•..*     •*-    ,    '    ^>5-        '* 


TJhe  7Jalmud 


BY 


Bernard  Pick,  Ph.  D. 


TJhe  TJalmud 


BY 


Bernard  Pick,  Ph.  D. 


tibxaxy  of  Che  Cheoiocjiccd  ^eminarp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

John  Stuart   Conning,    D.D. 


BM  501  .P5  1887 

Pick,  Bernhardt  1842-1917 

The  Talmud 


PREFACE. 


It  is  a  saying  of  Monsieur  Renan  that  "  in 
the  history  of  the  origins  of  Christianity,  the 
Talmud  has  hitherto  been  far  too  much  neg- 
lected.'1    His    idea    is   that   the   New  Testa- 
ment can  only  be  understood  by  the  light  of 
the    Talmud,    while   the    present    work    will 
prove  that  many  things  in  the  Talmud  can 
only  be  understood  by  the  light  of  the  New 
Testament  and   the   history   of  the  Church. 
To  do  this  we  have  divided  the  matter  into 
two  parts.     The  first  tries  to  show  what  the 
Talmud  is,  by   giving  a  succinct  history  of 
the  development    of    Jewish    traditionalism, 
which    culminated    in    the     Talmud,    "  that 
wonderful    monument    of    human    industry, 
human  wisdom,  and  human  folly,"  as  Milman 
calls    it  ;  and   in   order  to    dispel    erroneous 
views    concerning    the     Talmud,     we    have 
arrayed   the    opinions    of    such    scholars    as 
Milman,  Farrar,  Geikie,  Schaff,  Delitzsch  and 
others,  whom  no  one  will  accuse  of  partiality. 
As  a  connecting  link  we  have  inserted  those 
passages  of  the  Talmud  which  treat  of  the 
Messiah,  because  we  believe  that  their  con- 
tents were  more  or  less  influenced  by  Chris- 
tian thought,  and  that  they  do  not  express 
the  views  of  the  Jews  concerning  the  Mes- 
siah before    and   at  the  Christian  era.     For, 
says  Mr.  Stanton  {The- Jewish  and  the   Chris- 
tian   Messiah,     Edinburgh,    1886):      "  Is    it 
possible,  then,  that   we   should    put   implicit 
confidence  even   in  the  Talmud— the  oldest 
portion  of  which  is  allowed  not  to  have  been 
V 


VJ  PREFACE. 

brought  to  its  final  form  before  the  close  of 
the  second  century — not  to  say  in  later  Rab- 
binic writings,  for  a  true  representation  of 
the  Messianic  doctrine  before  and  at  the 
Christian  era?" 

The  second  part  brings  before  the  reader 
what  the  Talmud  has  to  say  about  Jesus, 
the  gospels  and  Christian  customs,  which 
can  only  be  understood  by  the  light  of  the 
New  Testament.  In  order  to  be  as  com- 
plete as  possible,  we  have  inserted  all  those 
passages  which  are  now  no  more  found  in 
the  Talmud,  but  which  are  conveniently 
given  in  a  little  pamphlet  published  by 
Meklenburg  at  Konigsberg,  entitled  Kivotz- 
otJi  lia-liashmatotJi,  and  which  may  also  be 
seen  scattered  in  Levy's  Ncuhebrdisches  Lex- 
icon. All  these  passages  speak  for  them- 
selves, and  their  value  is  enhanced  by  the 
very  fact  that  they  are  extant  in  a  work 
which  from  its  very  nature  was  compiled  by 
persons  antagonistic  to  Christianity.  Thus, 
for  instance,  what  is  narrated  about  James, 
at  least  shows  the  importance  of  his  position 
in  the  traditional  recollections  of  the  Jews, 
and  it  is  very  interesting  to  know  that  even 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the 
Christian  Sunday  had  already  become  so 
prominent  among  the  first  Christians,  that 
the  Jews  would  not  even  fast  on  that  day — 
which  would  necessitate  a  rest  from  labor — 
in  order  not  to  be  identified  with  the  Naza- 
renes.  The  Talmud  also  corroborates  the 
fact  that  certain  sayings  of  Jesus,  now  no 
more  extant  in  the  gospels,  were  current 
among  his  disciples.  Many  are  found  in  the 
writings  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  as  may  be 
seen  from  the  notes  to  the  "  Sayings  of 
Christ,"  as  published  in  our  Apocryphal  Life 
of  Jesus,  p.  124  seq.;  184  seq.;  two  are  here 
quoted    from    the   Talmud,    and  how  many 


PREFACE.  vii 

more  may  be  contained  in  this  voluminous 
work,  couched  in  words  now  no  more  intelli- 
gent or  as  cryptographs.  Thus,  e.  g.,  Saul,  the 
disciple  of  Gamaliel,  a  Pharisee  of  the  Phar- 
isees, and  who  before  and  after  his  conver- 
sion was  such  a  prominent  personage  at 
Jerusalem,  is  nowhere  mentioned  in  the  Tal- 
mud, although  his  teacher  is  so  often  named. 
And  yet  while  his  name  is  not  mentioned,  it 
is  claimed  by  a  modern  Jewish  writer  that 
in  a  passage  of  the  Talmud,  where  Gamaliel 
and  a  certain  disciple  argue  with  one  another, 
that  this  certain  disciple  is  none  else  than  the 
Apostle  Paul.  As  the  Christian  will  un- 
doubtedly be  interested  in  this  matter,  we 
reproduce  here  the  following,  from  our 
article  "  The  Apostle  Paul  in  the  Talmud," 
as  published  in  the  New  York  Independent, 
(May  5,  1887).  The  passage  as  found  in 
Shabbath,  fol.  30,  col.  2,  runs  thus  : — 

Rabban  Gamaliel  was  sitting  one  clay  expounding  to  his 
disciples,  thai  In  the  Messianic  age  it  would  come  to  pass 
that  the  curse  pronounced  in  Paradise  on  woman  would  be 
removed,  and  that  a  woman  would  be  able  to  bear  a  child 
every  day,  for  it  is  said:  She  travails  and  brings  forth  at 
once  (jer.  xxxi.  8).  "  That  disciple,"  laughing  at  this, 
said:  "Rabbi,  it  is  written,  'There  is  nothing  new  under 
the  sun"'  {Eccl.  i.  9).  Said  Gamaliel  to  him:  "Come, 
and  I  will  show  you  instances  even  in  this  dispensation." 
He  went  out  and  showed  him  hens  (which  lay  eggs  every 
day).  Another  day  Rabban  Gamaliel  was  sitting  and 
explaining  that  in  future  the  trees  would  bear  fruit  every 
day.  for  it  is  said:  "And  it  shall  bring  forth  boughs  and 
bear  fruit"  (Ezek.  xvii.  23),  as  a  tree  shall  produce  boughs 
every  day,  so  it  shall  likewise  bear  fruit.  "  That  disciple  " 
laughing  at  this,  said  :  "  Rabbi,  it  is  written,  '  There  is  no 
new  thing  under  the  sun.'  "  Said  Gamaliel,  "  Come,  and  I 
will  show  instances  in  this  world."  He  went  out  and 
pointed  to  the  caperberry.  Again  Gamaliel  was  sitting  and 
expounding  that  in  future  the  land  of  Israel  would  produce 
cakes  and  clothes  of  the  finest  wool,  for  it  is  said  ■  "There 
shall  be  an  abundance  of  corn  in  the  earth  "  {Ps.  Ixxii.  16). 
11  That  disciple,"  laughing  again,  said  :  "  There  is  no  new 
thing  under  the  sun."  Gamaliel  said:  "Come,  and  I 
will  show  thee  instances  in  this  world."  He  went  out,  and 
showed  him  cakes  and  mushrooms,  and  the  fine  bark  which 
surrounds  the  soft  twigs  of  the  date  palm.     From  this  pas- 


VI 11  PREFACE. 


sage    Dr.    Bloch  {Studien  zur  Geschickte  der  Sammluno  der 
altiebraischen    Literatur,    Leipsic,    1875,   P-   155)   argues  as 
lollows  :  Gamaliel  was  controverting  the  idea  that  the  Mes- 
sianic prophesies  were  accomplished  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
since  a  redeemer  could  not  have  atoned  for  the  sins  of  the 
world,  and  have  left  in  full  force  the   penalty  pronounced  in 
Paradise.     Not  only  the  guilt  of   sin,  but  the  effects  of  sin 
were,  according  to  him,  to  be  done  away  in  the   Messianic 
age.      I  he  pupil  presses  his  master  by  telling  that  all  such 
ideas  were  contrary  to  the  words,   "  There  is   nothing   new 
under  the  sun."      Gamaliel  rejoins  that  there  is  no  opposi- 
tion  between  his  views  and  the  text  quoted  by  his  pupil 
inasmuch   as    even   a   superficial    examination   of    Nature 
showed   that  the  fulfilment  of   his  expectations  would  re- 
quire nothing  absolutely  new.     The   person  of  that  pupil, 
Bloch  continues,  is  none  else  than  the  Apostle   Paul   for  the 
following  reasons :  1.  That  disciple  must  have  been  a  well- 
known  individual,  who  had   achieved  a  certain  fame   and 
popularity.     The  expression  *\y&>r\  lnw    points  to   this,  and 
reminds    very  much   of     j^nh  »ron     which   is  used   in    the 
lalmud  for  the  founder  of  Christianity.     2.  That  he  was  no 
stranger  to  the  Pharisees,  but  one  who  belonged  to  their 
school,  although  opposed  to  many  of    their  views  and  dis- 
posed  to   ridicule  the  same,  as  the  word  hh  shows.     Pie 
was  one  who  was  not  loved   by  them,    as  is  shown  by  the 
intentional  suppression  of  his  name.      "  Recollections    of  a 
painful  character,"  says  Bloch,  "were    connected  with  the 
name    [of   the  anonymous  disciple]  which    the  Talmud    ac- 
cording to  its  usual  custom,  did   not  wish   to  reserve  "     -x 
He  was  a    pupil  of   Gamaliel.     4.    Gamaliel's  answer  con- 
tamed   a  vigorous    attack    upon    Christianity.      "That  dis- 
ciple     opposes  him  and  tries  to  convince  him,  and  shows  a 
zeal  in  the  matter  which  proves  that  the    point  in  question 
was  of  great  importance  to  him.      With   a  conspicuous  con- 
stancy he  opposes  his  teacher  again  and    again,  and  has   no 
regard  for  the  position  of  the    pupil     toward    his   master 

S™^^n^aPp6arS  that  -e  tried  t0  show  hy  a»  mean«  that' 
Gamaliel  s  theory  concerning  the  Messiah  was  in  opposition 
with  Scripture  <<  In  a  word,"  says  this  Jewish  writer,  "we 
have  brought  before  us  in  the   narrative  of  the  Talmud  a 

I2l^°ffr?1SpU?t  °n  the  si^  of  Christianity  and 
pupil  of  Gamaliel,  well  acquainted  with  the  Rabbinical 
mode  of  argumentation-therefore,  no  other  than  the  fiery 
and  zealous  Apostle  Paul."  If  indeed  it  could  be  proven 
hat  this  Gamaliel  is  really  the  teacher  of  Paul,  and  not 
Gamaliel  II.— and  as  it  stands  in  the  Talmud  there  is  noth- 
ing to  militate  against  it— the  above  controversy  would  be 
an  important  contribution   to   the  life  of  the  great  Apostle. 

m  Should  this  volume  prove  acceptable,  it  is 
intended  to  publish  an  English  translation 
of.  the  first  treatise  of  the  Talmud,  entitled 
Berachoth,  which   is  already   in    manuscript 


PREFACE.  IX 

By  the  publication  of  BeracJiotJi — which  will 
be  the  first  English  translation  ever  pub- 
lished— the  reader  will  have  a  full  idea  of  the 
Talmud  in  every  respect. 

B.  Pick. 

Allegheny,  Pa.,  August,  1887. 


THE   TALMUD 


PART  I. 


JEWISH  tradition  reached  its  climax  in  the 
Talmud,  "  that  wonderful  monument,"  as 
Milman  calls  it,  V  of  human  industry,  human 
wisdom,  and  human  folly."  "  The  Talmud," 
says  a  modern  writer — 

"  May  compete  with  the  Constitutions  of  Loyola  for  the 
right  to  be  considered  the  most  irresistible  organ  ever 
forged  for  the  subjugation  of  the  human  will.  It  stands 
quite  alone,  its  age  and  origin  considered,  as  a  means  of 
perpetuating  a  definite  system  of  religious  bondage.  By 
the  Constitutions,  while  the  education  of  the  young  is  com- 
mitted as  far  as  possible  to  the  subtle  manipulation  of  the 
Order  of  Jesus,  the  decisive  appeal  to  the  obedience  of  the 
neophyte  is  made,  once  and  for  all,  at  a  fixed  opportunity. 
When  made  as  directed  by  the  founder,  it  is  said  never  to 
have  been  known  to  fail.  But  the  Talmud  not  only  awaits 
the  infant  at  birth  and  regulates  every  incident  of  that 
event  (even  to  the  names  of  angels  that  are  to  be  inscribed 
on  the  door,  and  the  words  on  the  four  corners  of  the 
apartment),  but  anticipates  each  circumstance  from  the  ear- 
liest moment  of  probability.  In  every  relation  of  life,  in 
every  action,  in  every  conceivable  circumstance — for  food, 
dress,  habit,  language,  devotion,  relaxation — it  prescribes 
almost  every  word  to  be  uttered,  and  almost  every  thought 
to  be  conceived.  Its  rule  is  minute,  omnipresent,  inflexi- 
ble. Its  severity  is  never  relaxed.  To  borrow  an  illustra- 
tion from  the  founder:  the  Jewish  mind,  subjected  while  in 
a  fusible  state  to  this  iron  mould,  has  been  at  once  chilled 
and  case-hardened  by  its  pressure."  *. 

The  Talmud  as  we  now  have  it,  is  not  the 
work  of  one,  but  of  many  generations,  and 
its  origin  may  be  traced  back  to   the  resto- 


Edinburgh  Review,  July,  1873.  p.  18, 
II 


12  THE   TALMUD; 

ration  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth  under 
Ezra,  the  historic  originator  of  the  oral  law. 
"  He  carried  on,"  says  Farrar,  "the  silent 
revolution  in  Jewish  conceptions  of  which 
the  last  eight  chapters  of  the  book  of  Ezekiel 
are  the  indication,  and  which  find  expression 
also  in  the  book  of  Chronicles.  In  Ezekiel 
we  see  the  gradual  passing  of  the  prophet 
into  the  scribe,  in  whom  prophecy  finds  it 
necessary  to  take  the  form  of  law,  and  who 
for  glowing  ideal  visions  furnishes  a  legisla- 
tive code."  x 

After  the  return  from  the  Babylonish  cap- 
tivity, Ezra  attempted  to  restore  the  Jewish 
polity  to  its  former  state,  but  he  found  his 
countrymen,  although  on  the  whole  relig- 
iously inclined,  yet  much  neglected,  and 
consequently  very  ignorant.  In  order  to 
bring  about  the  necessary  reformation,  Ezra 
is  said  to  have  associated  with  himself  some 
of  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  age,  as  an 
organized  college  or  synod,  commonly  called 
the  Great  Synagogue ,  which  terminated  with 
the  life  of  Simon  the  Just,  its  last  surviving 
member.  By  the  zealous  efforts  of  these 
enlightened  men  the  institutes  were  happily 
re-established,  or  to  use  the  language  of  Tal- 
mud, 2  "As  soon  as  the  men  of  the  Great 
Synagogue  met  together,  they  restored  the 
law  to  its  pristine  glory,"  and  an  efficient  and 
extensive  provision  was  made  for  the  spirit- 
ual and  moral  culture  of  the  people.  Under 
their  influence  arose  a  distinct  order  of  men, 
who  devoted  themselves  to  the  work  of  pub- 
lic instruction.  Bearing  the  name  of  Sofer- 
im  or  Scribes,  ycapftaTitr,  they  became  the 
teaching  clergy  of  the  Jews,  the  authorized 
expositors  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and    ed- 


i.  History  of  Interpretation  (New  York,  1886).  p.  52. 
9  Jerus  Megilla,  III.     in  fine. 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


\l 


itors    of    the    sacred    text.      The    influence 
which  they  thus  gained,  the  fact  that  from 
the  paucity  of  books   and   the  general  igno- 
rance, the  people  depended   entirely  on  this 
religious  aristocracy,  together  with  the  grow- 
ing tendencies  of  the  age  in  that  direction, 
contributed    not  a    little    to    place    religious 
eminence    in    mere  knowledge  and  outward 
observances,  without  spiritual  experience  of 
love.     "  Piety  dwindled  into  legalism.     Sal- 
vation   was    identified    with     outward    con- 
formity.    A  torturing  scrupulosity  was  sub- 
stituted for  a  glad  obedience.     God's  right- 
eous  faithfulness  was  treated    as  a  forensic 
covenant.     For  prophecy  there  was  only  the 
miserable  substitute  of  the   '  Daughter  of  a 
Voice ' ;     for    faith    the   sense   of   merit    ac- 
quired   by    legal    exactitude.      The   '  pious  ' 
were    hopelessly    identified    with    the    party 
of   the    Scribes.      The    Synagogues   became 
schools.      Ethics  were  subordinated  to  Lit- 
urgiology.     Messianism  was  debased  into  an 
unmeaning   phrase  or  a  materialized    fable. 
The    pride     of    pedantry,    despising    moral 
nobleness,  and  revelling  in  an    hypocrisy  so 
profound  as  hardly  to  recognize  that  it  was 
hypocritical,   wrapped    itself    in    an    esoteric 
theology,  and  looked  down  on  the  children 
of  a  common   Father  as  an   accursed  multi- 
tude in  whose  very  touch  there  was  ceremo- 
nial   defilement.      This    was    the    ultimate 
result   of  that    recrudescense  of   ceremonial 
which  was  the  special  work  of  the  scholars 
of  Ezra.     And  of  this  work  the  basis  was  a 
perverted  Bibliolatry,  and  the  instrument  an 
elaborate   exegesis." *     The   position   of   the 
Scribes  also  laid  the  foundation  of  the  exag- 
gerated   notions   which    both    teachers    and 
taught  afterwards  formed  of  the  dignity  of 


Farrar,  /<•.,  p.  58  se<i. 


jx  THE  TALMUD; 

the  rabbi  or  teacher,  and  we  must  therefore 
not  be  surprised  when  we  read  :  "  To  be 
against  the  word  of  the  scribes  is  more  pun- 
ishable than  to  be  against  the  word  of  the 
Bible  ;  "  *  "  The  voice  of  the  rabbi  is  as  the 
voice  of  God,"2  and  ''  He  who  transgresses 
the  word  of  the  scribes  throws  away  his 
life."  3 

The  men  of  the  great  synagogue  left  one 
maxim  behind  them  :  "  Be  deliberate  in 
judgment,  make  many  disciples,  and  make  a 
hedge  about  the  law."  +  "  The  hedge,"  says 
Farrar,  "  was  made  ;  its  construction  was  re- 
garded as  the  main  function  of  Rabbinism  ; 


i.  Sanhedrin  xi.  3.  2.  Embin,  fol.  21,  col.  2. 

3.  Berachotk,  fol.  4,  col.  2. 

4.  Aboth,  I.,  1.  The  late  Dean  Stanley,  in  quoting  this  sentence 
says :  "  But  there  is  one  traditional  saying  ascribed  to  the  Great 
Synagogue  which  must  surefy  have  come  from  an  early  stage  in 
the  history  of  the  scribes,  and  which  well  illustrates  the  disease,  to 
which  as  to  a  parasitical  plant,  the  order  itself  and  all  the  branches 
into  which  it  has  grown,  has  been  subject.  It  resembles  in  form 
the  famous  mediaeval  motto  for  the  guidance  of  conventual  ambi- 
tion, although  it  is  more  serious  in  spirit  :  l  Be  deliberate,'  etc. 
Nothing  could  be  less  like  the  impetuosity,  the  simplicity,  or  the 
openness  of  Ezra  than  any  of  these  three  precepts.  But  the  one 
which  in  each  succeeding  generation  predominated  more  and  more 
was  the  last:  '  Make  a  hedge  about  the  law.'  To  build  up  elabo- 
rate explanations,  thorny  obstructions,  subtle  evasions,  enormous 
developments,  was  the  labor  of  the  late  Jewish  scribes,  till  the  Pen- 
tateuch was  buried  beneath  the  Mishna,  and  the  Mishna  beneath 
the  Gemara.  To  make  hedges  round  the  koran  has  been,  though  not 
perhaps  in  equally  disproportioned  manner,  the  aim  of  the  schools 
of  El-Azar  and  Cordova,  and  of  the  successive  Fetvaks  of  the 
Sheykhs-et -Islam.  To  erect  hedges  round  the  gospel  has  been  the 
effort,  happily  not  continuous  or  uniform,  but  of  large  and  domi- 
nant sections  of  the  tribes  of  Christianity,  and  the  words  of  its 
founder  have  well-nigh  disappeared  behind  the  successive  in- 
trenchments,  and  fences,  and  outposts,  and  counterworks  of 
councils,  and  synods,  and  popes,  and  anti-popes,  and  sums  of 
theology  and  of  saving  doctrine,  of  confessions  of  faith  and  schemes 
of  salvation,  and  the  world  has  again  and  again  sighed  for  one  who 
would  once  more  speak  with  the  authority  of  self-evidencing 
truth,  and  'not  as  the  scribes,'  (Matthew  vii.  29).  A  distinguished 
Jewish  rabbi  of  this  century,  in  a  striking  and  pathetic  passage  on 
this  crisis  in  the  history  of  his  nation,  contrasts  the  prospect  of  the 
course  which  Ezekiel  and  Isaiah  had  indicated  with  that  which 
was  adopted  by  Ezra,  and  sums  up  his  reflections  with  the  remark 
that  '  Had  the  spirit  been  preserved  instead  of  the  letter,  the  sub- 
stance instead  of  the  form,  then  Judaism  might  have  been  spared 
the  necessity  of  Christianity'  (Herzfeld  ii.  32-36).  But  we  in  like 
manner  say  that  had  the  scribes  of  the  Christian  church  retained 
more  of  the  genius  of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  Christianity  in  its 
turn  would  have  been  spared  what  has  too  often  been  a  return  to 
Judaism,   and    it   was   in   the   perception  of  the  superiority  of  the 

Eruphct  to  the  scribe  that  its  original   fore*  and  unique  excellence 
ave  consisted.'  "    (Led.  on  tfie  History  0/  the  Jewish  Church,  vol. 
III.,  p.  165,  seg.  New  York,  1877.) 


IV II A.  T  IT  IS. 


*5 


it  excluded  all  light  from  without  and  all 
egress  from  within  ;  but  it  was  so  carefully 
cultivated  that  the  shrine  itself  was  totally 
disregarded.  The  oral  law  was  first  exalted 
as  a  necessary  supplement  to  the  written  law; 
then  substituted  in  the  place  of  it,  and  finally 
identified  with  the  inferences  of  the  Rabbis." 
(/.  c,  p.  62.) 

The  last  surviving  member  of  the  Great 
Synagogue  was,  according  to  tradition, 
Simon  I.,  the  Just,  whose  recorded  maxim 
was  :  "  The  world  stands  on  three  things — the 
law,  temple-service  and  well-doing."  x  With 
Simon  ended  that  class  of  teachers  who  were 
styled  Soferim  or  scribes,  and  who  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  Tana'im  or  teachers  of  the 
law,  the  vofiodi6dcKa?.oi  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  Tana'im  continued  the  work  of  their 
predecessors,  the  Soferim,  by  expounding 
more  definitely  their  views  and  expanding 
the  same,  and  the  laws  thus  laid  down,  called 
HalacJiotJi,  constitute  the  contents  of  the 
present  Mishna,  and  the  oldest  commentaries 
on  the  Pentateuch,  such  as  the  Mecliilta  on 
Exodus,  Sifra  on  Leviticus,  and  Si/re  on 
Numbers  and  Deuteronomy. 

The  first  of  these  Tana'im  was  Antigonus  of 
Socho  (about  200-170  B.C.).  He  was  a  dis- 
ciple of  Simon  the  Just,  and  the  first  who 
bears  a  Greek  name.  His  recorded  maxim  : 
"  Be  not  like  servants  who  serve  their  master 
for  the  sake  of  reward,  but  be  like  servants 
who  serve  their  master  without  looking  for  a 
reward,  and  let  the  fear  of  Heaven  be  upon 
you,"2  is,  according  to  Stanley,  "  full  of  sig- 
nificance and  shows  how  a  seed  of  future 
faith  had  already  borne  fruit  in  that  dark  and 
troubled  time."  Another  writer  calls  this 
precept  "  a  noble  and  almost  evangelical  one. 

X.  Ade>t/i,I.,2.  2.  Ibid.  I.,  3. 


j 6  THE   TALMUD; 

Truly  a  most  beautiful  maxim  and  one  de- 
noting a  legitimate  reaction  from  the  legal 
formalism  which  was  in  process  of  develop- 
ment."1 According  to  Jewish  tradition  the 
maxim  of  Antigonus  is  claimed  to  have  been 
the  origin  of  Sadduceeism,  a  view  now  gener- 
ally rejected  by  modern  critics. 

The  next  teachers  were  Jose  ben  Joeser 
and  Jose  ben  Jochanan  (about  150  B.C.). 
That  they  were  not  the  direct  successors  of 
Antigonus,  we  infer  from  the  reading  :  "  They 
received  the  tradition  from  them,"  and  not 
from  "  him"  Little  is  known  of  their  peculiar 
teaching.  Their  fundamental  principles  are 
somewhat  vague,  but  point  in  the  direction 
of  increasing  rabbinical  influence  and  preten- 
sion. The  first,  who  was  of  Zereda  said  :  "  Let 
thy  house  be  a  meeting  place  for  the  wise  ; 
dust  thyself  with  the  dust  of  their  feet,  and 
eagerly  drink  in  their  words."  2  The  second, 
who  was  of  Jerusalem,  said  :  "  Let  thy  house 
be  wide  open,  and  let  the  poor  be  the  chil- 
dren of  thy  house.  Do  not  multiply  speech 
with  a  woman.  If  this  applies  to  one's  own 
wife,  how  much  more  to  that  of  another 
man  ?  Hence  the  sages  say,  that  the  man 
who  multiplies  speech  with  a  woman  bring- 
eth  evil  upon  himself,  swerves  from  the 
word  of  the  law,  and  will  finally  inherit  de- 
struction." 3  Both  these  teachers  were  held 
in  great  esteem,  and,  at  their  decease  it  was 
said  :  "  Those  in  whom  every  excellency  was 
found  had  now  departed."4 

To  them  succeeded  Joshua  ben  Perachia 
and  Nithai  of  Arbela.  The  recorded  maxim 
of  the  former  is  :  "  Procure  for  thyself  a 
teacher,  gain  to  thyself  a   friend,  and  judge 


1.  Pressens<?,  Jesus  Christ,    His  Life,    Times  and   Work,    New 
York,  1868,  p.  68,  sea. 
z,  Aboth,  I.,  4,  5.        3.  A  both,  I.,  4,  5.        4.  Sotah,  fol.  47,  col.  1. 


IVHAT  IT  IS. 


17 


all  men  charitably;"  l  that  of  the  latter  is: 
"  Keep  aloof  from  a  wicked  neighbor,  have 
no  fellowship  with  sinners,  and  reject  not  the 
belief  in  retribution."  2  By  a  strange  anach- 
ronism some  Jewish  writers  declare  that 
Joshua  was  the  teacher  of  Jesus. 

As  next  teachers  we  mention  Judah  ben 
Tabbai  and  Simon  ben  Shetach  (about  90- 
70  B.C.).  The  latter  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
King  Alexander  Jannaeus,  and  when  at  one 
time  a  persecution  ensued  against  the  then 
dominating  spiritual  leaders  of  the  people, 
Simon  escaped  to  Egypt,  where  he  joined 
his  former  teacher,  Joshua.  Through  the  in- 
fluence of  his  sister,  the  queen,  Simon  was 
soon  recalled,  and  having  received  pardon 
for  his  friend  and  teacher,  Simon  communi- 
cated the  intelligence  to  Joshua,  who  soon 
returned.  Tabbai's  maxim  was :  "  Be  not 
like  the  orderers  of  judges.  When  parties 
are  before  thee,  regard  them  as  transgressors 
of  the  law,  but  regard  them  as  innocent  im- 
mediately after  they  are  released,  and  have 
suffered  the  penalty  of  the  law."  3  That  of 
Simon  was :  "  Be  extremely  careful  in  ex- 
amining witnesses,  and  beware  lest  from  thy 
mode  of  questioning  they  should  learn  how 
to  give  false  testimony."  4  He  was  the  first 
who  inaugurated  a  complete  system  of  edu- 
cation throughout  the  country.  Under  his 
influence,  tor  the  first  time,  schools  were  es- 
tablished in  every  large  provincial  town,  and 
all  boys  from  six  years  and  upwards  were 
compelled  to  attend  them. 

The  next  famous  teachers  were  Shemaiah 
and  Abtalion.  The  recorded  maxim  of  the 
first  is  :  "  Love  a  trade,  hate  lordship,  and  do 
not    obtrude    thyself  upon  the   powers  that 


1.  Aboth.  I.,  6. 
•.  Ibid.  I.,  7. 

2 

3.  Ibid.  I. 

4.  Ibid.  I. 

,  8. 
.9- 

jg  THE   TALMUD; 

be,"  *  whilst  the  latter  said  :  "  Ye  sages,  be  on 
your  guard  with  respect  to  your  words,  lest 
ye  become  amenable  to  captivity,  and  be  ex- 
iled to  a  place  of  evil  waters,  and  the  disciples 
who  come  after  you  may  drink  of  the  same 
and  die,  whereby  the  name  of  God  would  be 
blasphemed."  2  On  the  death  of  these  two 
teachers  there  were  no  qualified  successors  to 
take  their  place,  and  two  sons  of  Bethera, 
otherwise  unknown,  occupied  it  for  a  time. 
They  were  discussing  one  of  the  trivial 
ceremonial  questions  which  then,  as  on  later 
occasions,  both  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
church,  preoccupied  the  main  interest  of 
theological  schools.  It  was  the  grave  prob- 
lem (as  it  seemed  to  them)  whether  the 
Paschal  lamb  might  be  killed  on  the  Sabbath. 
In  their  perplexity,  they  asked :  "  Was  there 
none  present  who  had  been  a  disciple  of  the 
two  who  had  been  so  honored  ? "  {viz.: 
Shemaiah  and  Abtalion.)  The  question  was 
answered  by  Hillel,  the  Babylonian.  He 
solved  the  difficulty  with  reasons  from  anal- 
ogy, from  the  text  and  from  the  context. 
They  refused  his  decision,  until  he  ended  by 
saying :  "  Thus  have  I  heard  from  my  mas- 
ters, Shemaiah  and  Abtalion."  This  was 
decisive.  Having  before  been  regarded  as 
a  stranger  from  Babylon,  he  was  now  wel- 
comed as  chief.  "  Whose  fault  was  it,"  he 
said,  "  that  you  had  recourse  to  a  Babylo- 
nian ?  You  have  not  paid  due  attention  to 
Shemaiah  and  Abtalion,  the  two  great  men 
of  the  age,  who  were  with  you  all  the  time." 
His  presidency  in  the  Sanhedrin  is  given, 
according  to  treatise,  Shabbatli,  fol.  15,  col.  I, 
as  about  one  hundred  years  before  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem. 

1.  Aboth,  I.,  10.  e.  Ibid.  I.,  n. 


IVIIA  T  IT  IS. 


'9 


HlLLEL     I.,    THE   GREAT,    OR     THE     ELDER. 

FOR  more  than  one  reason  Hillel  deserves 
to  be  noticed  a  little  more  fully  than  his  pred- 
ecessors, although  it  is  difficult  to  separate 
history  from  legend  l  and  truth  from  fiction 
in  the  many  stories  which  the  Talmud  re- 
lates of  him.  "  It  has  been  reserved,"  says 
Stanley,  "  for  modern  times  to  recognize  his 
extraordinary  merit,"  but  we  may  also  say 
"  to  exaggerate  his  merit,"  as  was  done  es- 
pecially by  Renan  2  and  Geiger,  3  against 
whom  Professor  Delitzsch  of  Leipsic  pub- 
lished his  famous  treatise,  Jesus  and  Hillel  com- 
pared With  Reference  to  Renan  and  Geiger,  * 
from  which  the  following  extracts  are  given  : 
k'  About  fifty  years  before  our  present  era 
the  following  occurred  at  Jerusalem,  s  Shem- 
aiah  and  Abtalion,  the  most  celebrated  teach- 
ers of  that  age,  spent  on  a  certain  occasion 
the  whole  of  the  night  from  Friday  to  Satur- 
day in  directing  the  studies  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  disciples.  It  was  in  the  month  of 
Tebeth,  about  the  time  of  the  winter  solstice 
—hence  toward  the  close  of  December. 
When    the    auroral    column   had    arisen — so 


i.  Thus  for  instance  we  read  that  "  Hillel  knew  all  languages, 
rven  the  language  of  mountains,  hills  and  valleys,  trees,  vegetables, 
wild  and  tame  beasts,  and  demons  "  (.Soferim,  xvi.,  o),  or  that  he 
"  had  eighty  disciples  ;  thirty  of  them  were  worthy  thai  the  Shechina 
should  rest  upon  them  as  upon  Moses  ;  thirty,  that  the  sun  should 
stand  still  at  their  command  as  at  that  of  Joshua  ;  and  twenty  weie 
only  moderately  learned  ;  but  the  greatest  of  all  was  Jonathan 
ben  Uziel  of  whom  it  is  said,  that  when  he  studied  the  law,  every 
bird  that  flew  over  his  head  was  at  once  burned  up."  (Sueca,  fol. 
28,  col.  1) 

2  In  his  I'ie  de  Jesus,  he  said:  "  Hillel  was  the  real  teacher  of 
Jesus,  if  we  may  say  teacher  when  speaking  of  so  lofty  an  original- 
ity (Hillel  fut  le  vrai  maitre  de  Jesus,  s'il  est  permis  de  parler  de 
maitre quand  ils\igit  (Fzink  si  haute  or'igtualite,  p.  35.) 

3.  In  his  lectures  on  "Judaism  and  History  (1864),  Dr.  Ahr. 
Geiger  (d.  1874),  the  champion  of  Jewish  reform  says,  "Jesus  was 
a  Pharisee  who  walked  in  the  paths  of  Hillel.  He  never  gave  ut- 
terance to  a  new  idea  {Einen  neuen  Gedanken  sprach  er  ketnes- 
iveges  a  us.) 

.  4  Translated  into  English  by  the  Rev.  B.  Pick  {Andover  Review, 
September  and  November,  1884). 

j.   Yema,  fol.  35,  col.  2. 


20  THE  TALMUD; 

the  Shemitic  would  put  it,  because  the  sun 
suddenly  rising  there,  appears  above  the 
horizon  like  a  cone  of  light — Shemaiah  said  to 
Abtalion :  '  Dear  brother  Abtalion,  it  is 
usually  light  in  our  school  by  day  ;  it  must 
be  cloudy  this  morning  to  be  so  dark  !  '  As 
they  looked  up,  however,  they  discovered 
that  there  was  something  in  the  shape  of  a 
human  being  before  the  window.  They 
climbed  up,  and  found  a  man  actually 
buried  in  the  snow,  which  had  fallen  during 
the  night.  It  was  Hillel.  They  took  him 
out  of  the  snow,  put  him  into  a  bath, 
rubbed  him  with  oil,  and  brought  him  near 
to  a  fire,  for  they  said :  '  He  is  worthy, 
that  for  his  sake  we  should  break  the  Sab- 
bath.' " 

But  how  came  Hillel  to  be  found  thus 
placed  before  the  window  ?  This  Hillel, 
the  grandfather  of  that  Gamaliel,  at  whose 
feet  sat  the  apostle  Paul,  the  ancestor  of  a 
family  within  which  for  centuries  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Sanhedrin  was  transmitted, 
was  the  son  of  a  poor  exiled  family  in  Baby- 
lon. The  family  was  reduced,  although  it 
could  trace  its  pedigree  back  to  King 
David.  x 

Hillel,  as  well  as  his  brother  Shebna  2  had 
gone  to  Jerusalem — the  one  to  try  his  fortune 
in  business,  the  other  to  satisfy  his  thirst  for 
knowledge  at  the  great  seat  of  national  learn- 
ing. In  order  to  carry  this  into  effect,  he 
engaged  himself  as  a  day-laborer,  and  earned 
a  tropaicon  daily.  This  was  the  Greek  name 
for  the  Roman  victoriatus,  a  small  coin  worth 
half  a  denarius,  upon  which  the  image  of 
Victoria,  the  Goddess  of   Victory,  had   been 


i.   Bereshith  ftabba,  section  08. 

2.  Sot  a,  fol.  21,  col.  1,  according  to  which,  after  it  was  too  late  and 
in  order  to  please  God,  he  offered  to  divide  the  gain  with  his 
brother. 


WHA  T  IT  IS.  2 1 

stamped.  One-half  of  his  daily  earnings  had 
to  suffice  for  the  maintenance  of  his  family 
(for  he  was  married);  the  other  half  be  paid 
as  fee  for  admission  to  the  bctJi-lia-midrasJi,  the 
institution  over  which  Shemaiah  and  Abtalion 
presided.  One  day,  however,  he  failed  in  ob- 
taining labor,  and  was  not  allowed  to  enter 
the  college.  Favored  by  the  darkness  of  the 
night  he  climbed  up  to  the  window  late  on 
Friday  evening,  and  placed  himself  so  that 
he  could  see  and  hear  everything.  But  unable 
long  to  brave  the  cold  and  ceaseless  Decem- 
ber snow,  which  sometimes  falls  in  Jerusalem, 
he  fell  into  that  state  of  numbness  from 
which  he  was  with  difficulty  resuscitated  the 
following  Sabbath  morning. 

Thus  Hillcl  became  what  he  was.  He 
sought  to  satisfy  his  thirst  for  knowledge 
among  the  most  renowned  masters  of  his 
time,  and  spared  no  trouble  in  becoming  the 
heir  of  their  knowledge.  Having  attended 
the  lectures  of  the  highest  authorities  regard- 
ing questions  of  the  law,  he  soon  became  one 
of  those  highest  authorities  regarding  ques- 
tions of  the  law.  When  at  one  time  the  ques- 
tion was  debated,  whether  it  was  lawful  to  kill 
the  paschal  lamb  on  the  day  of  preparation  for 
the  feast,  when  that  day  is  the  Sabbath, 
Hillel  declared  that  it  is  lawful,  in  accordance 
with  genuine  tradition.1  From  that  time  on 
he  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent teachers  of  the  so-called  oral  or  tradi- 
tional law.  He  secured  respect  for  the  law  by 
his  great  learning,  his  personal  good  qualities, 
and  his  moderation,  and  that  at  a  time  of  gen- 
eral national  decay  and  irreligion.  But  he 
never  became  a  reformer.  Dr.  Geigeris  the 
first  to  give  him  this  name,  and  he  does  it 
merely  as  an  attempt  to  disparage  Jesus.    Re- 

z.  Pesachiin,  iol.  68,  col.  i  ;  Jerus,  Pesackim,  fol.  33,  col.i. 


22  THE  TALMUD; 

former,  in  the  good  sense  of  the  word,  is  one 
who  is  endued  with  creative  energy,  one  who 
brings  back  the  religion  of  a  nation  which  had 
become  defaced  and  deformed  to  its  original 
state,  and  thus  breathes  new  life  into  a  great 
community,  like  that  which  it  originally  pos- 
sessed. Samuel  and  Ezra  were  reformers 
of  this  class.  Hillel  changed  nothing.  He 
left  things  as  he  found  them.  It  is  indeed 
true  that  he  introduced  a  few  innovations 
in  the  civil  laws,  especially  concerning  lending 
money  and  buying  and  selling,  which  suggest 
cunning  contrivances  for  evading  the  laws  of 
Moses  ;  but  in  other  respects  all  he  did  was 
to  carry  out  more  fully  the  system  of  tradi- 
tion taught  by  the  Pharisees  ;  he  gave  him- 
self no  trouble  as  to  the  religious  state  of 
the  nation  at  large,  and  did  nothing  what- 
ever to  awaken  religious  life,  which  was  in 
such  a  decayed  state,  or  to  give  it  a  new 
impulse.  Hillel's  activity  was  not  in  the 
least  reformatory,  much  less  creative.  It 
consisted  essentially  in  nothing  else  than  in 
the  development  of  the  so-called  oral  law, 
which  aimed  to  ascertain  the  intent  of  the 
Mosaic  statutes,  in  accordance  with  certain 
rules  of  interpretation,  and  to  protect  them 
against  infringement  by  a  hedge  of  new  tra- 
ditions. In  this  legal  overstraining  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  Hillel  had  an  equal  rival  in  the 
more  strict  and,  regarding  ceremonial  things, 
more  painstaking  Shammai. 

An  example  will  show  in  how  far  at  that 
time  the  spirit  of  the  law  of  Moses  was  al- 
ready given  up.  In  Exodus  xvi.  5,  we  have 
the  indirect  commandment  that  everything 
necessary  for  the  Sabbath  should  be  pre- 
pared on  the  sixth  day.  The  meaning  and 
object  is  clear:  Rest  on  the  Sabbath,  which 
according  to  the  law  of  Moses  should  be  ob- 
served by  the  man-servant  and  maid-servant, 


I VII A  T  IT  IS. 


23 


as  well  as  by  the  master  and  mistress, 
should  not  be  disturbed  by  kitchen  work. 
The  scribes,  however,  raised  the  question, 
whether  an  egg  which  a  hen  had  laid  on  a 
Sabbath  could  be  eaten  on  that  day.  One 
should  suppose  that  common  sense  would 
have  settled  this  question,  inasmuch  as  in 
the  laying  of  eggs,  man  takes  no  active  part  ; 
but  it  was  decided  that  the  eating  of  such  an 
egg  was  unconditionally  prohibited,  in  case 
it  was  laid  by  a  hen  designed  for  this  pur- 
pose, since  in  that  case  it  was  the  result  of 
work  [begun  on  a  week-day  andj  brought  to 
an  end  on  the  Sabbath,  hence  unlawful. 
On  this  the  ''fathers  of  antiquity"1  were 
unanimous.  But  how  would  it  be  if  the  hen 
were  one  intended  not  to  lay  eggs,  but  for 
eating,  and  how,  if  a  Sabbath  and  a  feast- 
day,  observed  as  a  Sabbath,  should  come  to- 
gether? On  this  point,  Shammai,  against 
■his  custom,  was  less  strict  than  Hillel,  and 
decided  that  it  was  lawful  to  eat  the  egg  of 
a  hen,  itself  destined  to  be  eaten,  on  which- 
ever day  the  egg  had  been  laid.  Hillel, 
however,  the  "  Reformer,"  according  to  Gei- 
ger,  the  "  real  teacher  of  Jesus,"  according 
to  Renan,  argued  as  follows  .-—Since  the 
egg  has  come  to  maturity  on  a  Sabbath  or 
feast-day,  and  is  therefore  of  unlawful  origin, 
it  is  not  allowed  to  make  use  of  it  on  such  a 
day;  and  although  it  would  be  lawful  to 
make  use  of  the  egg  of  such  a  hen,  laid  on  a 
feast-day  or  Sabbath  not  followed  or  preced- 
ed by  another  similarly  sacred  day,  yet  it 
must  not  be  eaten  if  two  such  days  come  to- 
gether, because,  otherwise,  there  would  be  a 
temptation  to  use  it  on  the  second  holy  day. 
And  since   it  is   forbidden   even    to  carry  un- 


1.  Thus  C3TtJ?n  pun,  Hillel  and  Shammai  are  called  in  the  Mish- 
na  hduyoth  1,  4. 


24 


THE  TALMUD 


lawful  food  from  one  place  to  another,  such 
an  egg  must  not  only  not  be  eaten,  but  must 
not  be  picked  up  nor  put  aside  ;  whereby  it 
is  self-evident  that  the  conscientious  man  is 
not  to  put  a  finger  on  it,  for  that  might  lead 
to  his  taking  it  altogether  into  his  hand,  and 
is  not  even  to  look  at  it,  for  that  might  pos- 
sibly make  him  wish  he  could  eat  it.  In  this 
famous  dispute  about  the  egg,r  as  in  similar 
ones,  Hillel  was  right  against  Shammai,  for 
a  voice  from  heaven  (bath  kol)  is  said  to 
have  been  heard,  saying :  "  The  words  of 
both  are  the  words  of  the  living  God,  but  the 
rule  of  the  school  of  Hillel  is  to  be  fol- 
lowed." 2 

Of   the    many    stories    concerning    Hillel, 
Delitzsch  gives  the  following  : 

Two  men — we  are  told  in  the  Talmud— quarrelled  with 
each  other  in  Jerusalem.  "  Now  and  never !  "  said  the 
one,  "  400  sus  (a  coin  worth  a  Roman  denarius,  bearing 
the  image  of  Zeus)  to  the  man,  who  should  put  Hillel  out 
of  temper."  "Done!"  exclaimed  the  other.  It  was  a 
Friday  afternoon,  and  Hillel  was  washing  and  combing  his 
hair  for  the  Sabbath.  At  this  unseasonable  time,  and 
without  addressing  him  by  his  becoming  title,  some  one 
before  his  door  shouted  :  "Is  Hillel  here?"  He  (Hillel) 
wrapped  his  mantle  round  him,  came  out  and  said  :  "  My 
son,  what  is  your  desire  ?  "  "I  have  a  question  to  ask," 
replied  the  coarse  fellow.  "  Ask  on,  my  son,"  said  Hillel. 
"  Why  have  the  Babylonians  such  unsightly  round 
heads  ?  "  asked  the  man.  He  (Hillel)  said  :  "  A  very  im- 
portant question  didst  thou  ask,  my  son,"  [the  reason  is] 
"because  their  midwives  are  not  clever."  He  (the  man) 
went  away,  and  after  having  waited  an  hour  he  returned 
and  said:  "  Where  is  Hillel  ?  where  is  Hillel  ?  "  He 
(Hillel)  threw  on  his  mantle  and  went  out  and  said  to  him  : 
"  My  son,  what  hast  thou  ?  "  He  replied:  "  I  want  to  ask  a 
question."  "  Ask  on,  my  son,"  he  said.  "  Why  have  the 
Thermudians  such  narrow  eyelids  ?  "  "  An  important  ques- 
tion, my  son,"  said  Hillel.  "  because  they  live  in  a  sandy 
country."       Again    the    man    went  away,    and   in    another 


1.  A  whole  Talmudical  treatise,  which  treats  of  the  festival  days 
in  general,  is  entitled  Beza  (the  egg)  from  the  first  word  with  which 
it  comment  cs. 

2.  Eruii'n,  fol.  13,  col.  2.  That  HAlel's  rule  was  preferred,  was 
because  his  disciples  were  gentle  and  forbearing,  referred  to  the 
decisions  maintained  by  the  school  of  Shammai  and  even  men- 
tioned them  first. 


WIIA  T  IT  IS. 


25 


hour's  time  he  returned  as  before  saying:  "Where  is 
Hillel  ?  where  is  Hillel  ?"  He  threw  on  his  mantle  and 
went  out  and  said  to  him  :  "  My  son,  what  hast  thou  ?  "  He 
replied  :  "I  wish  to  ask  a  question."  "  Ask  on,  my  son,"  he 
said.  "  Why  have  the  Africans  such  broad  feet?"  "In- 
deed, a  very  important  question,  my  son,"  said  Hillel. 
"  Because  they  live  in  a  marshy  land."  He  (the  man)  said 
to  him:  "  I  have  many  more  questions  to  ask,  but  I  am 
afraid  lest  1  only  try  thy  patience  and  make  thee  angry." 
Hillel,  drawing  his  mantle  around  him,  sat  down  and  bade 
the  man  to  ask  all  the  questions  he  wished.  '"So  "  said  the 
man,  thoroughly  disarmed :"  art  thou  Hillel  whom  they 
call  a  prince  in  Israel?"  He  replied,  "Yes."  "Well," 
said  the  man,  "  I  pray  there  may  not  be  many  more  in 
Israel  like  thee."  "And  why,  my  son?"  said  Hillel. 
"Because,"  said  the  man,  "  I  have  lost  four  hundred  sus 
on  thy  account."  "  Calm  thyself,  my  son,"  replied  Hillel ; 
"  better  that  thou  shouldst  lose  four  hundred  sus,  and  four 
hundred  more  for  Hillel's  sake,  than  that  Hillel  should 
lose  his  temper. "1 

So  great  was  Hillel's  good  nature.  It  was 
boundless.  For  a  rich  man  who  had  been 
impoverished,  he  hired  a  saddle-horse  and 
halberdier,  and  as  he  could  obtain  none,  he 
is  said  to  have  once  taken  his  place  for  three 
miles.2  Indeed  his  good  nature  transcended 
the  bounds  of  truth,  for  while  Shammai  de- 
manded the  truth  in  the  bridal  song  concern- 
ing the  appearance  of  the  bride,  Hillel  taught 
that,  however  ugly  she  were,  one  must  put 
himself  in  the  place  of  the  bridegroom  and 
sing  :  "  Ah  the  lovely  and  charming  bride  !  "  3 
Yes,  in  his  beneficence  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
Hillel  showed  a  want  of  veracity;  for  once, 
by  means  of  a  cunning  trick,  he  passed  an  ox 
for  a  cow,  which  he  offered  as  a  sacrifice  in 
the  temple-court,  in  order  to  avoid  a  dispute 
with  the  followers  of  Shammai  concerning  a 
question    of    the    law.*      Only    because    his 

i.  Skabbathy  fol.  30,  col.  2;  fol.  31,  col.  1. 

2.  Kethuboth,  fol.  67,  col.  2. 

3.  Ibid.  fol.  16,  col.  2;   fol.  17,  col.  1. 

4.  He  wagged  the  tail  of  the  animal,  to  hide  its  sex.  The  story 
is  given  in  Tr.  Bc-^a,  fi  1.  20,  col.  1.  Jost  {Geschichie  des  Jwden- 
thums  l,  267)  says:  "Hillel  did  n<>t  only  suffer  himself  to  be  in- 
timidated by  Shammai,  but  even  yielded  to  his  boldest  disciples  in 
such  a  manner  in  the  Temple-court,  that  he  told  an  untruth  in  order 
to  avoid  a  dispute,  a  circumstance  which  the  rabbis  attributed  to 
him  as  a  great  merit." 


26  THE   TALMUD; 

famous  meekness  had  its  dark,  as  well  as  its 
bright  sides,  we  can  understand  how  he,  un- 
der the  absolute  monarchy  of  the  first  Herod, 
who  showed  cowardice  towards  Rome,  and 
cruelty  toward  his  own  people,  could  main- 
tain the  highest  national  honorary  position 
in  Jerusalem  in  an  unmolested  and  even 
favored  manner,  and  that  he  attained,  ac- 
cording to  tradition,  x  like  Moses,  the  age 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years.  Another 
story  of  Hillel  runs  thus:  Once  a  Gentile 
came  to  Shammai,  and  said  :  "  Make  me  a 
proselyte  ;  but  you  must  teach  me  the  whole 
law  during  the  time  that  I  can  stand  on  one 
leg."  Shammai  got  angry  and  drove  him 
away  with  a  stick  which  he  held  in  his  hand. 
He  went  to  Hillel  with  the  same  challenge. 
Hillel  converted  him  by  answering  him  on 
the  spot :  "  That  which  is  hateful  to  thyself, 
do  not  do  to  thy  neighbor.  This  is  the 
whole  law,  and  the  rest  is  mere  commen- 
tary."2 This  is  the  famous  answer,  which 
modern  Jewish  writers  quote  with  a  show 
of  self-complacency,  and  upon  which  rest 
Renan's  and  Geiger's  assertions  concerning 
Jesus. 

Passing  over  the  different  apophthegms  of 
Hillel,  which  are  scattered  in  the  Pirke 
Aboth  and  other  parts  of  the  Mishna,  we 
must  mention  that  he  was  the  first  who  re- 
duced the  Chaotic  mass  of  rules  which  had 
gathered  round  the  Mosaic  precepts  to  Six 
Orders — the  first  oral  basis  of  the  future 
Mishna,  and  also  drew  up  the  seven  exegetic 
rules  which  were  the  basis  of  all  later  devel- 
opments of  the  Oral  Law.  From  the  captiv- 
ity the  Jews  brought  with  them  a  reveren- 
tial, or,   rather,  a  passionate,  attachment   to 


i.   Bereshitk  A'ubba,  section  100. 

2.  Shabbatky  fol.  31,  col.  1.  Of  this  sentence  we  shall  speak  further 
on. 


WHAT  IT  IS. 


27 


the  Mosaic  law.  By  degrees,  attachment  to 
the  law  sunk  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
national  character :  it  was  not  merely  at 
once  their  Bible  and  their  statute-book  ; 
it  entered  into  the  most  minute  detail  of 
common  life.  But  no  written  law  can  pro- 
vide (or  all  possible  exigencies.  In  order  to 
adapt  it  to  all  possible  or  impossible  cases,  the 
Law  became  a  deep  and  intricate  study  and 
developed  itself  into  that  homiletico-exegeti- 
cal  literature  which  was  called  Midrash,  i.e., 
exposition.  The  midrash  was  at  first  simple, 
but  in  the  course  of  time  it  again  developed 
itself  into  the  Halakka,1  i.e.,  "decision," 
norm,  systematized  legal  precept,  and  Hag- 
gada, 2  i.e.,  "  what  was  said,"  without  having 
the  authority  of  the  law,  i.e.,  free  exposition, 
homilies,  moral  sayings,  and  legends.  Starting 
from  the  principle  that  Scripture,  especially 
the  Pentateuch,  contained  an  answer  to 
every  question,  the  text  was  explained  in  a 
fourfold  manner,  viz.  I,  Peshat  in  a  simple, 
primary,  or  literal  ;  2,  Derush,  or  secondary, 
homiletic,  or  spiritual  ;  3,  Remez,  i.e.,  allegori- 


1.  A  writer  in  the  Comhill  Magazine (August,  1875)  says:  "The 
Talmudic  Dictionary  reminds  us  of  Tennyson's  description  of  the 
Sangraal,  when  it  defines  Halaca  as  a  "thing-  which  goes  and 
comes  from  the  beginning  to  the  end."  The  words  of  the  wise 
which  were  likened  by  the  preacher  to  "goads  and  nails  fixed  by 
masters  of  assemblies,"  are  probably  these  Halacas.  They  contain 
specimens  of  Hebrew  dialectic,  which  as  little  as  the  words  of  some 
Jews  of  later  time  bear  out  the  assertion  of  Adam  Clarke,  con- 
ceived in  these  carefully  distinguished  and  philosophic  terms: 
"The  Jews  have  ever  been  the  most  puerile,  absurd,  and  ridicu- 
lous reasoners  in  the  world,  always  excepting  of  course,"  adds  the 
reverend  writer  by  a  lucky  afterthought,  "  the  inspired  writers." 

2.  "Heine,"  says  the  same  writer  in  the  Cornhill  Magazine,  in 
his  Romancero,  following  the  unerring  instinct  of  the  poet,  "  has 
given  some  remarkable  information  about  the  Talmud.  He  is 
pleased  to  call  the  Agada  a  garden,  and  the  Halaca  a  fighting 
school.  It  is  probably  true,  as  Deutsch  observed,  that  he  had  never 
read  a  word  of  either.  The  Agada  is  a  strange  pot  fiourri  of  legend, 
rhetoric  and  philosophy.  It  infuses,  says  one  who  knew  it  well, 
doubt  and  solicitude  into  the  mind  by  its  secret  sense."  Mr.  Deutsch 
(art.  Talmud)  says.  "  If  the  Halakha  was  the  iron  bulwark  around 
the  nationality  of  Israel,  the  Haggada  was  a  maze  of  flowery  walks 
within  those  fortress  walls,"  and  "  between  the  rugged  boulders  of 
the  Law  there  grow  the  blue  flowers  of  romance  and  poetry — para- 
ble, gnome,  tale,  saga— its  elements  are  taken  from  heaven  and 
earth  ;  but  chiefly  and  most  lovingly  from  Scripture  and  from  the 
human  heart." 


2g  THE   TALMUD; 

cal ;  4,  Sod,  i.e.,  recondite,  or  mysterious 
sense,  which  was  afterwards  designated  by 
the  acrostic  PaRDeS.  The  fourfold  mode, 
however,  was  not  sufficient  for  the  explana- 
tion, and,  according  to  the  old  saying  that 
"  the  law  can  be  interpreted  in  forty-nine 
different  modes"  (Midrash  Rabb.  Levit.  sec- 
tion xxvi.p.  149^),  all  impossibilities.could  be 
made  possible.  Hence  the  necessity  arose 
for  laying  down  and  fixing  certain  laws  for 
the  interpretation  of  the  Scripture.  This 
was  done  by  Hillel  by  his  seven  rules,  ac- 
cording to  which  the  law  was  to  be  explained, 
viz.: — I,  inference  from  minor  to  major;  2, 
the  analogy  of  ideas  or  analogous  inferences  ; 
3,  analogy  of  two  objects  in  one  verse  ;  4, 
analogy  of  two  objects  in  two  verses  ;  5, 
general  and  special  ;  6,  analogy  of  another 
passage  ;  7,  the  connection. 

Hillel  died  ten  years  after  the  birth  of 
Christ.  "  Ah  !  the  tender-hearted,  the 
pious,  the  disciple  of  Ezra,"  was  the  lament 
over  his  grave.  He  was  the  founder  of  a 
family  and  race  of  hierarchs  in  the  wisdom 
and  administration  of  the  law,  who,  in  fifteen 
generations  (10-415  A.D.)  held  the  dignity  of 
nasim  or  "  patriarchs." 

SHAMMAI. 

Of  Shammai,  Hillel's  colleague,  but  com- 
paritively  little  is  known.  He  was  a  forma- 
list of  the  narrowest  schools,  a  man  of  a  for- 
bidding and  uncompromising  temper,  and, 
in  this  respect,  as  in  others,  the  counterpart 
of  his  illustrious  companion,  of  whom,  both 
in  their  dispositions  and  divisions  on  a  mul- 
titude of  rabbinical  questions,  he  was,  as 
we  may  say,  the  antithesis.  This  antithesis 
is  especially  shown  in  the  famous  con- 
troversy'   carried    on     between     Hillel     and 


WIIA  T  IT  IS. 


29 


Shammai  concerning  the  egg  laid  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  to  which  reference  has  already 
been  made.  Very  graphical])-  does  Dean 
Stanley  describe  the  disputes  of  both  these 
sages  in  the  following  words: 

"The  disputes  between  Hillel  and  Shammai  turn,  for 
the  most  part,  on  points  so  infinitely  little  that  the  small 
controversies  of  ritual  and  dogma  which  have  vexed  the 
soul  of  Christendom  seem  great  in  comparison.  They 
are  worth  recording  only  as  accounting  for  the  obscurity  into 
which  they  have  fallen,  and  also  because  churches  of  all 
ages  and  creeds  may  be  instructed  by  the  reflection  that 
questions  of  the  modes  of  eating  and  cooking  and  walking 
and  sitting  seemed  as  important  to  the  teachers  of  Israel — 
on  the  eve  of  their  nation's  destruction,  and  of  the  greatest 
religious  revolution  that  the  world  has  seen — as  the  ques- 
tions of  dress  or  posture,  or  modes  of  appointment,  or 
verbal  'formulas  have  seemed  to  contending  schools  of 
Christian  theology."  (I.e.,  III.  501). 

Though  each  gave  often  a  decision  the 
reverse  of  the  other,  yet  by  a  sort  of  fiction 
in  the  practice  of  schools,  these  contrary 
decisions  were  held  to  be  co-ordinate  in  au- 
thority, and,  if  we  may  believe  the  Talmud, 
were  confirmed  as  of  like  authority  by  a 
batli-kol  (a  voice  from  heaven):  "  Both  these 
and  these  speak  the  words  of  the  living 
God." 

This  saying  passed  for  law,  and  the  con- 
tradictory sayings  of  both  these  rabbins  are 
perpetuated  in  the  Talmud  to  this  day. 
And  although  both  were  rabbinically  one, 
yet  their  disciples  formed  two  irreconcilable 
parties,  like  the  Scotists  and  Thomists  of 
the  middle  ages,  whose  mutual  dissidence 
manifested  itself  not  only  in  the  strife  of 
words,  but  also  in  that  of  blows,  and  in 
some  cases  in  that  of  bloodshed.  So 
great  was  the  antagonism  between  them 
that  it  was  said  that  "  Elijah  the  Tishbite 
would  never  be  able  to  reconcile  the  dis- 
ciples of  Shammai  and  Hillel."  Even  in 
Jerome's    times    this     antagonism    between 


3Q  THE   TALMUD; 

these  two  schools  lasted,  for  he  reports 
[Comment  in  Esaiam  viii.  14,)  that  the  Jews 
regarded  them  with  little  favor,  for  Sharru 
mai's  school  they  called  the  "  Scatterer  "  and 
Hillel's  the  "Profane,"  because  they  dete- 
riorated and  corrupted  the  law  with  their  in- 
ventions. 

The  recorded  principle  of  Shammai  was  : 
"  Let  thy  repetition  of  the  law  be  at  a  fixed 
hour" — which  according  to  Stanley  was  "  the 
hard  and  fast  line  by  which  his  disciples 
were  to  be  bound  down,  as  by  an  inexorable 
necessity,  to  the  punctual  reading  of  the 
Sacred  Book,  as  of  a  breviary,  at  hours 
never  to  be  lost  sight  of  " — "  speak  little, 
but  do  what  thou  hast  to  do  with  a  cheerful 
countenance"  (Aboth  I,  15).  "That  voice," 
says  Dean  Stanley,  "  has  a  touching  accent, 
as  though  he  felt  that  the  frequent  profes- 
sions and  austere  demeanor  which  were  con- 
genial to  his  natural  disposition  might  per- 
chance prove  a  stumbling-block  to  the  cause 
which  was  dear  to  him." 

The  age  of  Hillel  was,  in  many  respects, 
the  most  distinguished.  It  was  also  that  in 
which  he  appeared  and  came 

"  To  heal  all  the  wounds  of  the  world, 
The  Son  of  the  Virgin  was  born." 

Most,  if  not  all  the  Rabbins,  who  lived  at 
that  period,  as  Papias,  Ben  Bagh  Bagh, 
Jochanan  the  Horonite  and  others,  must 
have  witnessed  His  advent,  have  taught  dur- 
ing His  life-time,  "  and  had  a  more  or  less 
direct  share  in  His  rejection  and  death. 
Considering  the  state  of  the  synagogue,  can 
we  still  wonder  at  this?  Could  their  pride 
and  exclusiveness,  their  wrangling  and  learn- 
ing, their  religious  zeal  and  ardor,  have 
found  satisfaction  in  the  life,  the  work,  or 
the  teaching  of   Jesus   of  Nazereth,"   which 


WHAT  IT  IS.  31 

were  in  direct  antagonism  with  their  own  ? 
Both  systems  could  not  co-exist.  Either  He 
or  they  must  go  down.  His  ascendency 
would  be  their  undoing. 

GAMALIEL  I. 

The  next  in  the  presidency  was  Hillel's 
grandson,  Gamaliel  I.,  the  Elder  (a.D.  30-5  t), 
the  teacher  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  the 
same  who  gave  the  temperate  advice  which 
led  to  the  suspension  of  the  persecution  of 
the  early  church.  Among  Jewish  doctors 
Gamaliel  had  been  honored  with  the  title 
of  Rabban,  "our  teacher."  As  Aquinas 
among  the  school-men  was  called  Doctor  An- 
gclicns,  and  Bonaventura  Doctor  Scrapliicus, 
so  Gamaliel  was  called  the  "  Beauty  of  the 
Law  "(rvwn  npa).  He  is  said  to  have  been  the 
thirty-fifth  receiver  of  the  traditions  from 
Mount  Sinai;  and  he  added  to  all  the  am- 
plitude of  Hebrew  law  a  large  acquaintance 
with  Gentile  literature  ;  the  study  of  Greek 
being  connived  at,  in  his  case,  by  his 
rabbinical  brethren,  on  the  plea  of  his  having 
need  of  that  language  in  diplomatic  trans- 
actions with  the  secular  government.  A 
master  also  in  the  astronomy  of  that  day, 
he  could  test,  it  is  said,  the  witnesses  for 
the  new  moon,  by  a  chart  of  the  lunar  mo- 
tions he  had  constructed  for  the  purpose. 
His  astronomic  skill  was  employed  also  in 
the  rectification  of  the  Jewish  calendar.  It 
is  recorded  that  he  delighted  much  in  the 
study  of  nature,  and  in  the  beautiful  in  all 
its  manifestations.  "  In  short,  Gamaliel  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  man  of  an  enlarged 
and  refined  mind,  and  no  very  stringent 
Pharisee,  though  connected  with  the  sect." 
Casual  notices  of  him  in  the  Talmud  make 
this     evident.      Thus,    he    had    a    figure    en- 


32 


THE   TALMUD 


graved  upon  his  seal,  a  thing  of  which  no 
strict  Pharisee  could  approve.  Nor  could 
such  an  one  have  permitted  himself  to  enter 
a  public  bath  in  which  was  a  statue  of 
Aphrodite.  But  this  Gamaliel  is  reported  to 
have  done  at  Ptolemais,  justifying  himself  by 
the  argument  that  the  bath  had  been  built 
before  the  statue  was  there,  that  the  build- 
ing had  been  erected  not  as  a  temple,  but 
as  a  bath,  and  as  such  he  used  it  (Mishna 
Aboda  Sarah,  iii.,  5). 

The  attitude  assumed  by  Gamaliel  toward 
the  Christians  has  induced  others  to  surmise 
that  this  distinguished  Rabbi  was  at  heart  a 
believer  in  Jesus,  and  that  he  was  openly 
baptized  before  his  death  by  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul,  together  with  his  son  Gamaliel  and 
Nicodemus.  From  Graetz,  Geschichte  der 
Juden  iv.  p.  437,  we  learn,  that  in  a  church  at 
Pisa,  the  tomb  of  Gamaliel  the  Elder  was 
shown,  who  was  converted  to  Christianity, 
and  whom  the  church  canonized.  The 
tomb,  which  contains  the  remains  of  many 
such  converts,  bears  the  following  inscrip- 
tion: 

"  Hoc  in  Sarcophago  requiescunt  corpora  sacra 
Sanctorum.  .  .  .   Sanctus  Gamaliel.  .  .   . 
Gamaliel  divi  Fauli  didascalus  olim, 
Doctor  et  excellens  Israelita  fuit, 
Concilii  magni  fideique  peromnia  cultor." 

But  these  notices  are  altogether  irreconcil- 
able with  the  esteem  and  respect  in  which 
he  was  held  in  later  times  by  the  Jewish 
rabbins,  who  never  doubted  the  soundness 
of  his  creed,  but  who,  on  the  contrary,  said 
that  at  his  decease  "  the  glory  of  the  law 
had  ceased,  and  purity  and  abstinence  died 
away"  {Mishna  Sota  ix.  15).  "Indeed."  as 
Mr.  Etheridge  well  observed  :— 

"The  two  systems  of  Judaism  and  Christianity  had  now 
become  so  strongly  defined,  as  to  render  neutrality  in  the 


W1IA  T  IT  IS. 


33 


ease  of  a  man  so  publicly  known  impossible.  Jews  and 
Christians,  as  much,  could  no  longer  coalesce.  One  cause 
was  the  antagonism  of  Christianity  to  the  corruptions  with 
which  Rabbinism  had  damaged  the  Jewish  system.  For 
while  the  new  communion  had  accepted  att  the  truths,  and 
retained  all  the  permanent  realities  of  the  O.  T.  dispensa- 
tion, it  speedily,  and  in  the  spirit  inculcated  by  the  teach- 
ings of  its  Divine  Founder,  disengaged  itself  from  the 
human  and  oppressive  additions  of  the  Sopherira.  But  as 
these  mischievous  corruptions  had  become  the  religion,  so 
to  speak,  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  as  well  as  an  effective 
apparatus  of  government  in  the  practice  of  their  spiritual 
rulers,  the  propagators  of  the  new  faith  found  it  extremely 
difficult  to  make  a  favorable  impression  on  the  nation  at 
large.  Then  the  Catholicity  of  the  evangelical  dispensa- 
tion was  opposed  to  the  favorite  ideas  of  the  Jewish  mind. 
The  elect  people  identified  with  the  reign  of  the  ex- 
pected Deliverer  their  own  ascendency  over  a  vassal 
world ;  but  the  Gospel  proclaimed  the  advent  of  the 
Messiah  of  all  nations,  whose  sceptre  was  to  shed  equal 
blessings  on  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth.  The  Saviour  of 
our  race  had  been  manifested,  not  to  aggrandize  a  sect, 
but  to  redeem  a  world  ;  to  be  a  light  to  illumine  the  Gen- 
tiles, as  well  as  to  be  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel." 

The  recorded  theological  principle  of 
Gamaliel  expresses  his  adherence  to  tradi- 
tionalism and  his  abhorrence  of  Pharisaical 
wrangling  and  hypocritical  over- scrupulous- 
ness. It  is  :  "  Procure  thyself  a  teacher,  avoid 
being  in  doubt  and  do  not  accustom  thy- 
self to  give  tithes  by  guess."  {Aboth,  I.,  16.) 

SIMEON. 

Gamaliel  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Simeon 
(50-70  A.D.).  The  authentic  notices  of  him 
are  very  few.  We  get  a  glimpse  or  two  of 
him  in  the  storm  which  was  then  so  fiercely 
raging  in  Jerusalem.  As  the  resolute  op- 
ponent of  the  Zealots,  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  political  struggles,  whose  convul- 
sions hastened  the  ruin  of  the  state.  lie 
also  took  an  active  part  in  the  defence  of 
Jerusalem,  and  fell,  one  of  the  many  vic- 
tims of  the  national  struggle.  Josephus 
{Life,  section  38)  says  of  him  :  "This  Simon 
3 


24  THE   TALMUD] 

was  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  of  a  very 
noble  family,  of  the  sect  of  tne  Pharisees, 
which  are  supposed  to  excel  others  in  the 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  their 
country.  He  was  a  man  of  great  wisdom 
and  reason,  and  capable  of  restoring  public 
affairs  by  his  prudence,  when  they  were  in 
an  ill  posture."  His  recorded  maxim  is : 
"  The  world  exists  by  virtue  of  three  things 
— viz.,  truth,  justice  and  peace ;  as  it  is 
written,  Truth  and  the  judgment  of  peace 
shall  be  in  your  gates"  {Aboth,  I.  18).  He 
also  belongs  to  the  ten  teachers  who  were 
called  npSs  wvi  "  tlie  killed  for  the  king- 
dom," and  their  death  is  commemorated  on 
the  25  th  day  of  Si  van,  for  which  day  a  fast 
is  ordained. 

With  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  a  new 
epoch  commenced  not  only  in  the  history  of 
the  Jewish  people,  but  more  especially  in 
the  development  of  Jewish  scholasticism. 
The  seat  of  learning  was  removed  to  Jabne, 
or  Jamnia,  and  the  most  prominent  teacher 
of  the  new  school  was 

JOHANAN  BEN  SAKKAI  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS. 

He  had  escaped  from  Jerusalem  by  being 
carried  on  a  bier  as  one  who  had  died. 
When  he  had  reached  the  Roman  camp,  he 
was  welcomed  by  Vespasian  and  allowed  to 
proffer  a  request.  Rabbi  Johanan  is  said  to 
have  first  conciliated  the  general's  favor  by 
predicting  his  future  accession  to  the  purple. 
Then  instead  of  asking  any  personal  favors, 
he  only  requested  permission  to  establish  a 
school  at  Jabne.  The  request  was  granted, 
and  Johanan  now  settled  with  his  disciples  at 
Ramla,  near  Jabne,  to  await  there  the  issue 
of  events.  When  tidings  of  the  destruction 
of  the  Temple  reached   them,  he  comforted 


WIIA  T  IT  IS. 


35 


his  disciples,  and  as  the  head  of  the  school 
he  adapted  Judaism  to  the  altered  political 
circumstances.  Jabne  was  substituted  for 
Jerusalem,  certain  ordinances  were  discon- 
tinued or  slightly  altered,  and  certain  prayers 
or  good  works  substituted  for  sacrifices,  and 
the  change  was  effected  without  leaving  any 
trace  of  violent  revolution.  The  branch  of 
theology  in  which  Johanan  excelled,  was 
that  known  as  the  Haggada.  Of  his  disci- 
ples the  Mishna  mentions  Eliezer  ben  Hyr- 
canus,  Joshua  ben  Hananja,  Jose,  the  Priest, 
Simeon  ben  Nathauael,  Eleasar  ben  Arach. 
The  first  two  are  the  best  known  and  most 
prominent. 

Rabbi  Johanan  died  on  his  bed  in  the  arms 
of  his  disciples.  His  dying  words  were: 
4<  Fear  God  even  as  you  fear  men."  His  dis- 
ciples seemed  astonished.  He  added  :  "  He 
who  would  commit  a  sin,  first  looks  round  to 
discover  whether  any  man  sees  him  ;  so  take 
ye  heed,  that  God's  all-seeing  eye  see  not  the 
sinful  thought  in  your  heart."  There  is  an- 
other of  his  last  words.  His  disciples  ad- 
dressed him  :  "  Rabbi,  light  of  Israel,  thou 
strong  rock,  right-hand  pillar,  why  dost  thou 
weep?"  He  answered  them  :  "  If  they  were 
about  to  lead  me  before  a  king  of  flesh  and 
blood,  who  is  to-day  here  and  to-morrow  in 
the  grave,  who  if  he  were  angry  with  me,  his 
anger  would  not  last  forever  ;  if  he  put  me 
in  bondage,  his  bondage  would  not  be  ever- 
lasting ;  and  if  he  condemned  me  to  death, 
that  death  would  not  be  eternal  ;  whom  I 
could  soothe  with  words  and  bribe  with 
money  ;  yet,  even  in  these  circumstances,  I 
should  weep.  But  now  I  am  about  to  ap- 
pear before  the  awful  majesty  of  the  King  of 
Kings,  before  the  Holy  and  Blessed  One, 
who  is,  and  who  liveth  forever,  whose  just 
anger  may  be  eternal,  who  may  doom  me  to 


THE  TALMUD; 


36 

eternal  punishment.  Should  he  condemn 
me,  it  will  be  to  death  without  further  hope. 
Nor  can  I  pacify  Him  with  words,  nor  bribe 
Him  with  money.  There  are  two  roads  be- 
fore me,  one  leading  to  Paradise,  the  other 
to  Hell,  and  I  know  not  by  which  of  these  I 
go_should  I  not  weep?"  We  see  thus,  in 
Johanan's  life  and  death,  a  signal  instance  of 
the  unsatisfactory  character  of  Rabbinism. 
Even  this  famous  man  was  made  to  feel  and 
exemplify,  that  "by  the  deeds  of  the  law 
there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified."  * 

Johanan's  successor  as  head  of  the  school 
at  Jabne  was  Gamaliel  II.,  son  of  Simon,  and 
grandson  of  Gamaliel  I.  (about  90-110  A.D.). 
He  exercised  the  prerogative  of  his  office  in 
the  most  despotic  manner,  silencing  by  ex- 
communication those  whom  he  could  not 
convince  by  arguments.  This  attempt  at 
spiritual  tyranny,  however,  ultimately  issued 
in  his  own  humiliation  and  final  deposition. 
Gamaliel,  after  having  seen  his  error,  and 
having  implored  the  pardon  of  his  colleagues, 
was  again  re-instated.  With  a  few  excep- 
tions, Gamaliel  was  an  adherent  of  the  school 
of  Hillel,  and  in  legal  matters,  acted  accord- 
ing1^ ,  .  , 

The   two   most    famous  cotemporanes    ot 

Gamaliel  were  Rabbi  Joshua  ben  Hananja  and 
Rabbi   Eliezer  ben   Hyrcanus,  both  disciples 


1  Lightfoot  in  the  spirit  of  his  time  and  opinion  says  insultingly  : 
"  Oh  the  wretched  and  failing  faith  of  a  Pharisee  in  the  hour  ot 
death"  {Academics J afnensis  Histome  Fragment*.  I.  p  446  ed. 
Pitman)  A  modern  writer  says :  '  What  a  contrast  is  presented  in 
the  history  of  a  disciple  of  the  celebrated  Rabbi  Gamaliel,  one  who 
had  profited  above  many  of  his  equals  in  age  in  the  Jew's  religion, 
being  more  exceedingly  zealous  of  the  traditions  of  his  fathers. 
He  had  them  cast  off;  he  had  counted  ihem  loss  for  Christ,  and  now, 
in  ihe  prospect  of  eternity,  exultingly  exclaims  "  Henceforth  there 
is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the 
Righteous  Judge  shall  give  me  at  that  day,"  and  in  the  animating 
prospect  of  the  Redeemer's  triumph  over  death,  leads  on  the 
Christian  hosts  with  the  exultant  shout,  lO  death  where  is  thy 
sting1  O  grave  where  is  thy  victory?  Thanks  be  to  God  which 
gives  us  the  victory  through  Jesus,  the  Messiah,  our  Lord.  CRey- 
nolds,  Six  Lectures  on  the  Jews,  London,  1847.) 


W1IA  T  IT  IS. 


17 


of  Johanan  ben  Sakkai.  Only  the  former 
seems  to  have  been  on  friendly  terms  with 
Gamaliel,  not  so  the  latter,  who  according  to 
tradition  has  been  excommunicated  by  the 
patriarch,  his  own  brother-in-law.  Eliezer 
had  a  school  at  Lydda,  but  upon  his  excom- 
munication he  retired  to  Caesarea  where  he 
died  about  117  A.D. 

When  Gamaliel  died,  the  temporary  ad- 
ministration of  spiritual  affairs  devolved  on 
Rabbi  Joshua.  Like  Eliezer,  he,  too,  had 
opened  a  college  at  Lydda  after  the  decease 
of  Rabbi  Johanan  ben  Sakkai.  He  trained 
a  number  of  most  intelligent  pupils,  of  whom 
some  became  distinguished  for  attainments 
in  the  Halakha.  On  account  of  his  mild  and 
liberal  views  on  all  theological  and  general 
questions,  he  was  probably  the  only  Jewish 
doctor  who  not  only  enjoyed  the  full  confi- 
dence of  the  Roman  authorities,  but  who 
also  employed  his  influences  for  the  advan- 
tage both  of  his  countrymen  and  of  their  rul- 
ers. 

AQIBA   BEN   JOSEPH. 

Amongst  the  many  pupils  of  Rabbi  Joshua, 
none  became  so  renowned  as  Aqiba  ben  Jo- 
seph, the  systematizer  of  Rabbinism,  the 
Thomas  Aquinas  of  the  Oral  Law.  The  old 
Jewish  writers  have  embellished  their  biog- 
raphies with  such  a  variety  of  fables,  as  to 
make  it  difficult  to  give  a  substantially  true 
account  of  the  persons  who  were  the  subjects 
of  them.  Aqiba,  who  flourished  about  110- 
135  A.  D.,  studied  under  three  different  teach- 
ers, and  derived  from  each  a  claim  of  pecul- 
iar distinction.  From  Nanum  of  Gimso  he 
had  learned  those  exegetical  principles  which 
attached  such  celebrity  to  the  name  of  that 


3S 


THE   TALMUD 


theologian.  T  Rliezer  ben  Hyrcanus  had 
probably  laid  the  foundation  of  his  more 
solid  learning,  while  Rabbi  Joshua  ben  Ilan- 
anjah  initiated  him  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
Kabbalah.  Aqiba  may  be  considered  as  the 
only  systematic  Tanaite.  Thus  he  arranged 
the  different  halakhas  first  after  their  contents 
— which  division  was  called  masichta  or  tex- 
tus — and  then  enumerated  them  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  assist  the  memory  of  the  stud- 
ent. Besides  his  arrangement  of  the  Mishna, 
which  was  called  the  Mishna  of  Rabbi  Aqiba, 
he  also  grounded  its  text  upon  Scripture,  or 
at  least  made  the  first  systematic  and  con- 
sistent attempt  toward  it.  But  more  than 
the  enumeration  or  exposition  of  the  hal- 
akha,  his  peculiar  and  novel  method  of  ex- 
pounding the  Scriptures  fascinated  his  hear- 
ers. "  He  founded  a  science  of  casuistry  to 
which  the  plain  meaning  of  the  Written  Law 
became  of  less  and  less  importance; "  he 
opened  ways  for  the  exercise  of  ingenuity, 
and  its  results  were  made  subservient  to  the 
interests  of  traditionalism. 

Thus  Nahum  of  Gimso  had  declared  some 
particles  in  the  Scriptures  as  significant,  but 
Aqiba  went  beyond  that,  declaring  that  every 
sentence,  won/,  and  particle  in  the  Bible  must 
have  its  use  and  meaning.  He  denied  that 
mere  rhetorical  figures,  repetitions,  or  accu- 
mulations occurred  in  the  Bible.  Every  word, 
syllable,  and  letter,  which  was  not  absolutely 
requisite  to  express  the  meaning  which  it 
was  desired  to  convey,  must,  he  maintained, 
serve  some  ulterior  purpose,  and  be  intended 
to  indicate  a  special  meaning.  Rabbi  Aqiba 
reduced  his  views  to  a  system.  The  seven 
exegetical  principles  of  Hillel  were  enlarged 


i.  Nahum  explained  that  some  particles  were  excluding,  whilst 
others  were  including.  This  method  was  called  "  the  rule  of  exten- 
sion and  restriction  "  {ribbuj  u-miut). 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


39 


into  forty-nine,  which  were  strictly  applied  to 
every  possible  case,  not  only  in  hagadic  inter- 
pretations, but  also  in  the  study  of  the  hal- 
akha,  in  the  highest  judicial  procedures,  and 
even  as  groundwork  for  fresh  inferences. 
Sometimes,  however,  these  principles  were 
put  to  a  severe  test.  Thus,  on  one  occasion, 
they  were  applied  to  the  text,  "  Thou  shalt 
honor  the  Lord  thy  God,"  in  which  a  parti- 
cle not  absolutely  requisite  was  discovered. 
One  of  Aqiba's  pupils  objected  that  it  might 
be  inferred  that  some  one  else  besides  God 
was  to  be  supremely  reverenced,  but  Aqiba 
removed  his  doubts  by  replying  that  the  par- 
ticle in  question  was  intended  to  point  to 
the  law,  which  ought  to  be  honored  next  to 
the  Lord. 

Rabbi  Aqiba's  method  was  hailed  as  the 
commencement  of  a  new  period.  His  co- 
temporaries  yielded  to  the  most  extravagant 
transports  of  delight.  Thus  Rabbi  Tarphon, 
heretofore  surpassing  Rabbi  Aqiba,  addressed 
him  respectfully  :  "  He  that  forsakes  thee,  for- 
sakes eternal  life  ;  what  tradition  had  forgot- 
ten thou  hast  restored  by  the  method  of 
interpretation."  Rabbi  Joshua,  Aqiba's  for- 
mer teacher,  although  wary  on  these  subjects, 
could  not  repress  a  wish  that  Johanan  ben 
Sakkai  had  been  alive  to  witness  the  firm 
establishment  of  the  halakha.  In  their  ex- 
travagance, the  rabbis  went  so  far  as  to  as- 
sert that  Aqiba  had  discovered  many  things 
of  which  even  Moses  was  ignorant. 

Aqiba's  great  maxim  was  "  that  every- 
thing is  ordained  of  heaven  for  the  best." 
With  this  axiom  on  his  lips,  he  was  riding 
with  some  of  his  followers  near  the  ruins  of 
Jerusalem.  They  burst  into  tears  at  the 
melancholy  sight,  for,  to  heighten  their  grief, 
they  beheld  a  jackal  prowling  upon  the  hill 
of  the  Temple.     Aqiba   only  observed  that 


40 


THE  TALMUD; 


the  very  success  of  the  idolatrous  Romans, 
as  they  fulfilled  the  words  of  the  prophets, 
were  grounds  of  loftier  hopes  for  the  people 
of  God.  The  end  of  these  lofty  hopes  must 
have  severely  tried  the  resignation  of  Aqiba. 
He  was  yet  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame,  though 
now  nearly  120  years  old  ;  lie  is  said,  also, 
by  some,  to  have  been  the  head  of  the  San- 
hedrin  when  Bar  Ccchab,  or  Ccziba,  an- 
nounced his  pretensions  as  the  Messiah. 
Aqiba  had  but  lately  returned  frcm  a  visit, 
or  from  a  flight,  to  his  Mesopotamian  breth- 
ren ;  and  whether  the  state  of  affairs  at 
Nahardea  and  Nisibis  had  awakened  his 
hopes  and  inflamed  a  noble  jealousy,  which 
induced  him  to  risk  any  hazard  to  obtain 
equal  independence  for  his  brethren  in 
Judea,  or  whether  there  was  any  general  and 
connected  plan  for  the  reassertion  of  Jewish 
liberty,  he  threw  himself  at  once  into  the 
party  of  the  heaven-inspired  insurgent. 
"  Behold,"  said  the  hoary  enthusiast,  in  an 
assembly  of  the  listening  people,  "the  Star 
that  is  come  out  of  Jacob  ;  the  days  of  the 
redemption  are  at  hand."  "  Aqiba,"  said  the 
more  cautious  Rabbi  Johanan,  "the  grass 
will  spring  from  thy  jawbone,  and  yet  the 
son  of  David  will  not  have  come."  Without 
narrating  the  events  of  this  insurrection, 
which  proved  as  abortive  as  former  ones,  we 
will  only  state  that  it  was  again  on  the  fatal 
9th  day  of  Ab  (August),  the  anniversary  of 
the  double  destruction  in  Jerusalem,  that 
the  fortified  town  of  Bether  fell,  the  son  of 
the  star,  Bar  Cochba,  was  killed,  and  his 
head  carried  in  triumph  to  the  Roman  camp. 
Among  those  who  were  destined  to  die 
was  also  Aqiba,  the  brave  martyr  of  an 
ignoble  cause.  "  Had  "  says  Farrar,  "  Aqiba 
been  trained  in  truer  and  nobler  methods. 
he    might     not    have    committed    the    gross 


WHAT  IT  IS.  4I 

error  of  confusing  a  Barkoziba  with  a  Bar- 
kokhba — the    'son  of  a  lie'    with  the    'son 
of  a  star.'  '       Amongst    those    who    opposed 
Aqiba's    principles    was    none    more    distin- 
guished   by    birth,     personal    character,     or 
learning,    than   Rabbi    Ismael,    who  lived  in 
the    south    of     Palestine,    not    far    from    the 
Idumean     boundaries,     at     a     place     called 
Kcphar   Aziz.     The  remarkable  part  of    his 
life   to    us    is    the    system    of    interpretation 
which  he  laid  down  in  opposition  to  that  of 
Aqiba.     In  opposition  to  the  latter,  Ismael 
maintained  that  the  Bible,  being  written  in 
human   language,   uses   expressions    in   their 
common  acceptation,  that  many  of  the  repe- 
titions and  parallelisms  are  simply  designed 
to    render   the    style    more    rhetorical,    and 
powerful,    and     cannot,    therefore,     without 
violation   of    the    laws   of    language,    be    ad- 
duced in  support  of  legal  deductions.     Ac- 
cordingly he  laid  down    thirteen    exegetical 
rules,  which  are  called  the  thirteen  rules  of 
Rabbi  Ismael,  by  which  alone  the  Scriptures 
are  to  be  interpreted,  and  which  are  as  fol- 
lows:   i.  Inference  from  minor  to  major;  2. 
The  comparison  of  words  or  ideas  ;  3.   Build- 
ing of  the  father,  or  the  chief  law,  from  one 
verse,  and  the  chief  law  from  two  verses  •  4. 
General   and   special;   5.    Special   and   gene- 
ral ;  6.    General,  special,  and   general  ;  7.  A 
general  subject  which  requires  a  special  one, 
and  a  special  one  which  requires  a  general 
subject  for  mutual  explanation  ;  8.     When  a 
special  law  is  enacted   for  something  which 
has  already  been  comprised  in  a  general  law, 
it  shows  that  it  is  also  to  be  applied  to  the 
whole  class;  9.   When  a  subject   included  in 
a    general    description    is    excepted    from    it 
or  another  enactment,  whilst    it    remains    in 
all  other  respects  like  it,  it  is  excepted  to  be 
alleviated,  but  not  aggravated  ;    10.  When  a 


42  THE   TALMUD; 

subject  included  in  a  general  description  is 
excepted  from  it  for  another  enactment, 
whilst  it  is  also  not  like  it  in  other  respects, 
it  is  excepted  both  to  be  alleviated  and  ag- 
gravated, i  e.,  its  connection  with  the  general 
law  entirely  ceases;  1 1.  If  a  subject  in- 
cluded in  a  general  description  has  been  ex- 
cepted from  it  for  the  enactment  of  a  new 
and  opposite  law,  it  cannot  be  restored  again 
to  the  general  class  unless  the  Bible  itself 
expressly  restores  it  ;  12.  The  sense  of  an 
indefinite  statement  must  either  be  deter- 
mined from  its  connection,  or  from  the  form 
and  tendency  of  the  statement  itself;  13. 
When  two  statements  seem  to  contradict 
each  other,  a  third  statement  will  reconcile 
them. 

Rabbinic  Judaism  regarded  these  rules  of 
such  an  importance  that  it  made  it  obliga- 
tory for  every  Jew  to  recite  them  in  the 
morning-prayer ;  hence  these  rules  may  be 
found  in  every  Jewish  prayer-book. 

CONTEMPORARIES   OF  AQIBA. 

Ismael,  who  died  in  the  year  121  A.D.,  is 
also  the  reputed  author  of  a  number  of 
works.  The  most  important  of  these  are  an 
allegorical  commentary  on  Exodus,  called 
Mechilta.1  The  Mechilta  is  composed  of 
nine  tractates,  subdivided  into  sections,  and 
treats  on  select  sections  of  Exodus  in  the 
following  order :  The  first  tract  treats  on 
Exodus  xii.  1  — 1 3,  in  eighteen  sections;  the 
second  on  xiii.  17-xiv.  31  in  six  sections;  the 
third  on  xv.  1-21  in  ten  sections;  the  fourth 
on  xv.  22-xvii.  7  in  seven  sections  ;  the  fifth 
on  xvii.  8-xviii.  27  in  four  sections  ;  the  sixth 


1.  Best  edition  by  Weiss,  Vienna,  1865,  and  by  M.  Friedman,  ibid. 
1870.  A  Latin  translation  is  fourd  in  Ugolini's  Thesaurus  A  vtiq- 
uitatum,  vol.  xiv.  (Venice,  1752). 


WHAT  IT  IS. 


43 


on  xix.  I -xx.  22  in  eleven  sections;  the  sev- 
enth on  xxi.  r-xxii.  23  in  eighteen  sections; 
the  eighth  on  xxii.  23-xxiii.  19  in  two  sections  ; 
and  the  ninth  on  xxxi.  12-17,  xxxv.  1-3,  in 
two  sections.  Besides  the  Mechilta,  some 
cabbalistic  works  are  ascribed  to  Ismael. 

Prominent  among  Aqiba's  contemporaries 
was  Rabbi  Tarphon,1  who  belonged  to  a 
sacerdotal  family,  and  whose  recorded  maxim 
was  :  "  The  day  is  short,  the  labor  vast  ;  but 
the  laborers  are  slothful,  though  the  reward 
is  great,  and  the  Master  presseth  for  dis- 
patch. It  is  not#  incumbent  upon  thee  to 
complete  the  work,  and  yet  thou  art  not  at 
liberty  to  be  idle  about  it.  If  thou  hast 
studied  the  law  much,  great  reward  will  be 
given  thee  ;  for  faithful  is  thy  employer,  who 
will  award  to  thee  the  hire  of  thy  labor,  and 
be  aware  that  the  award  of  the  righteous  will 
be  in  the  future  which  is  to  come."2  The 
manner  in  which  he  applied  the  Scripture  is 
best  illustrated  by  the  following  :  When 
some  one  told  him  something  intellectual, 
he  used  to  say,  "  A  knop  and  a  flower  in  one 
branch  "  (Exod.  xxv.  33) ;  but  when  the  tale 
was  not  according  to  his  taste,  he  used  to 
say,  "  My  son  shall  not  go  down  with  you."  3 

Another  Tanaite  of  the  same  period  was 
Jose  the  Galilean,  known  as  the  author  of 
thirty-two  rules,  whereby  the  Bible  is  to  be 
interpreted.4 

As  soon  as  the  war  had  terminated  a  Jew- 
ish synod  was  convoked  at  Ussa  or  Usha, 
and  Simon  ben  Gamaliel  II.,  who  had  es- 
caped   the    sword  of  the   Roman  conqueror 

1.  Of  his  animosity  against  Christianity,  we  shall  speak  further 
on. 

2.  A  both,  II.,  20  seq. 

3.  Bereshith  Rabba,  section  91. 

4.  Given  in  full  by  Pinner,  Treatise  Berachoth,  fol.  20  seq.  Com- 
pare also  Bngg's  Biblical  Study,  p.  301,  where  the  principles  of  the 
methods  of  Ismael  and  Jose  are  summed  up  in  the  words  of  a  mod- 
ern Jewish  writer. 


44  THE   TALMUD; 

from  the  slaughter  at  Bether,  was  elected  as 
the  spiritual  head  of  the  college  of  rabbis 
(about  140-160  A.D.).  Of  prominent  teachers 
we  mention  Rabbi  Nat/tan,  the  author  of  the 
celebrated  "  Sayings  "  which  go  by  his  name  ; 
Joseph  ben  Halafta,  who  died  in  150  A. D., 
author  of  an  historical  work  entitled  "  Seder 
01am  "  ;  Juda  ben  llai,  surnamed  "  the  Just," 
who  made  the  book  of  Leviticus  his  special 
study,  and  is  considered  as  the  first  author 
of  the  Midrashic  work  entitled  Sifre,  whkh 
was  afterwards  more  fully  elaborated  ;  Simeon 
benjochai,  the  master  of  the  Kabbala,  the  leg- 
endary author  of  the  Zohar,  whose  political 
views  became  the  source  of  political  troubles, 
which  finally  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of 
the  school  of  Jabne  ;  and  finally  Rabbi  Me'ir, 
the  casuist,  whose  permanent  merit  con- 
sisted in  continuing  the  labors  of  his  master 
Aqiba  in  the  arrangement  of  the  halakha. 
This  he  carried  to  a  stage  further  by  divid- 
ing according  to  their  contents  the  tradi- 
tions, which  had  hitherto  been  only  strung 
together  according  to  their  number.  In  this 
respect  the  patriarch's  son,  Juda,  was  much 
indebted  to  his  tuition.  Simon  ben  Gamaliel 
II.  was  succeeded  by 

RABBI   JUDA   THE    HOLY. 

This  rabbi,  called  "  the  Holy,'  or  "the 
Prince,"  or  "  Our  Master,"  or  simply  and 
emphatically  by  the  mere  title  Rabbi  as 
though  no  other  were  worthy  to  be  com- 
pared with  him,  was  by  far  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  that  race  since  Hillel  the 
Great,  and  the  last  truly  distinguished  Jew- 
ish patriarch  of  Palestine.  Born  about  the 
year  136,  on  the  very  day  on  which  Rabbi 
Aqiba  suffered  martyrdom,  he  attracted  at- 
tention at  an  early  age,  and  when   his  father 


WHAT  IT  IS.  45 

died,  he   followed   him    in   the  presidency  of 
the  Sanhedrin. 

Juda  inherited  to  a  remarkable  extent  the 
two  qualities  of  his  predecessors,  acuteness 
and  ambition.  The  vast  riches  which  the 
family  had  accumulated,  and  the  learning 
and  originality  which  favorably  distinguished 
him  from  his 'father  Simon,  enabled  him  to 
carry  out  the  hierarchical  designs  of  the  lat- 
ter, which  had  now  almost  become  the  tra- 
ditional policy  of  the  family  of  Hillel  Juda 
soon  obtained  the  sole  right  of  ordination, 
and  it  was  enacted  that  none  but  regularly 
ordained  teachers  were  in  future  to  pro- 
nounce on  any  religious  question — a  rule 
which,  as  will  easily  be  inferred,  excluded  all 
but  the  patriarch's  favorites  from  places  of 
influence  or  authority.  His  residence,  and 
that  of  the  Sanhedrin,  was  at  first  at  Beth- 
Shearim  (the  modern  Turan),  and  afterwards 
at  Sepphoris,  a  place  chosen  for  its  salubri- 
ous air,  and  where  he  died  in  200. 

His  most  lasting  and  important  measure, 
whereby  he  achieved  the  greatest  claim  to 
renown,  was  the  collection  of  the  Mishna. 
"  Down  to  his  time,"  says  Farrar,  ''the  tra- 
ditions of  the  Fathers  had  never  been  put 
into  writing.  It  had  been  a  rule  of  the  Rab- 
bis that  what  had  been  delivered  orally  was 
only  to  be  retained  by  the  memory.  That 
rule  was  founded  on  the  principle  that  cir- 
cumstances change,  and  therefore  that  oral 
decisions  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  final 
precedents.  By  this  time,  however,  it  had 
become  an  impossibility  to.  retain  a  mass  of 
precedents  so  heterogeneous  and  so  im- 
mense as  those  which  had  been  accumulated 
from  the  days  of  Ezra  to  those  of  Aqiba. 
Accordingly  Rabbi  Juda,  for  the  first  time, 
committed  to  writing  the  Oral  Law  arranged 
under  the  six  orders  of  Hillel's  classification, 


46 


THE   TALMUD 


His  compilation  was  called  "the  Mishna," 
"learning,"  or  "Repetition."  It  acquired 
an  influence  truly  secular.  It  summed  up 
the  labors  of  four  centuries.  The  Oral  Law 
had  been  recognized  by  Ezra ;  had  become 
important  in  the  days  of  the  Maccabees; 
had  been  supported  by  Pharisaism  ;  nar- 
rowed by  the  school  of  Shammai,  codified 
by  the  school  of  Hillel,  systematized  by  R. 
Aqiba,  placed  on  a  logical  basis  by  R. 
Ismael,  exegetically  amplified  by  R.  Eliezer, 
and  constantly  enriched  by  successive  rabbis 
and  their  schools.  Rabbi  put  the  coping- 
stone  to  the  immense  structure.  Thence- 
forth the  Mishna  moulded  the  entire  theol- 
ogy and  philosophy  of  Judaism.  The  pub- 
lication of  tradition  put  an  end  to  the  inde- 
pendent energy  of  the  Halakha,  and  closed 
the  long  succession  of  the  Tanaim.  The 
Mishna  became  the  bond  of  Jewish  nation- 
ality. It  put  an  end  to  the  Patriarchate 
of  which  it  was  the  child.  It  completed  the 
"  hedge  about  the  law,"  which  henceforth 
neither  persecution  nor  dispersion  could  de- 
stroy, and  through  which  neither  Hellenism, 
nor  Sadduceeism,  nor  Alexandrianism,  nor 
Gnosticism,  nor  Christianity,  nor  the  Renais- 
sance, nor  the  Reformation,  nor  modern 
skepticism,  down  to  the  days  of  Moses  Men- 
delssohn, could  break  their  way.  This 
strange  collection  of  completed  and  dead 
"decisions,"  being  treated  as  of  divine  au- 
thority, superseded,  all  but  entirely,  the 
Scriptures  on  which  they  professed  to  have 
been  based.  The  bold  initiative  of  Rabbi 
stamped  on  Judaism  a  character  singularly 
dry  and  juristic,  and  laid  upon  the  necks  of 
all  Talmudic  Jews  a  yoke  unspeakably  more 
empty  and  indefinitely  more  galling  than 
that  of  which  St.  Peter  had  complained  even 
in  the  days  when  the  observance  of  Mosaism 


WIIA  t  IT  IS.  47 

had  not  yet  been  rendered  impossible  by  the 
fiat  of  history,  which  is  the  manifest  will  of 
God."1 

THE  MISHNA. 

The  Mishna,  which  a  Jewish  historian  has 
pronounced  a  work,  the  possession  of  which 
by  the  Hebrew  nation  compensated  them 
for  the  loss  of  their  ancestral  country ;  a 
book  which  constitutes  a  kind  of  home- 
stead for  the  Jewish  mind,  an  intellectual 
and  moral  fatherland  for  a  people  who, 
in  their  long  lasting  discipline  of  suffering, 
are  exiles  and  aliens  in  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  is  composed  of  different  elements. 
Besides  the  elucidation  of  the  fundamental 
texts  of  the  Mosaic  laws,  and  their  applica- 
tion to  an  endless  variety  of  particular  cases 
and  circumstances  not  mentioned  in  them, 
it  contains  the  decisions  of  the  sages  and 
of  individuals,  decisions  demanded  by 
emergencies  and  universal  principles  under 
which  a  multitude  of  particular  cases  may 
be  provided  for.  These  manifold  materials 
Juda  or  Rabbi  arranged  under  six  general 
classes,  called  Sedarim  or  "  Orders."  The 
first  relating  to  the  productions  of  the  earth, 
as  forming  the  staple  sustenance  of  human 
life,  is  called  Zeraim,  i.e.,  "  seeds."  The 
second  referring  to  times  and  seasons,  in- 
volving the  religious  observance  of  years 
and  days,  feasts  and  festivals,  is  called 
Mo'ed  or  "  Festival  Solemnity."  The  third, 
called  NasJiim  or  "  Women,"  deals  with  the 
institution  of  marriage,  which  lies  at  the 
basis  of  the  system  of  human  society.  The 
fourth  called  Nezikin  or  "Injuries"  relates 
to  civil  controversies,  and  treats  of  the 
rights  of  persons  and  things.     The  fifth  com- 


i.  History  of  Interpretation^  p.  So  acq. 


4g  THE  TALMUD  ; 

prises  laws  and  regulations  regarding  the 
service  and  worship  of  God,  upon  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Levitical  ritual,  or  things 
consecrated,  and  is  called  Kodashim,  i.e., 
Consecrations.  The  sixth  exhibits  the  pre- 
scriptions requisite  to  the  maintenance  or 
recovery  of  personal  purity,  according  to  the 
Levitical  ideas,  and  is  called  TohorotJi,  i.e., 
"  Purifications." 

The  regulations  thus  generally  classified 
are  further  arranged  under  a  multitude  of 
subsidiary  topics  ;  each  Seder  being  divided 
into  a  number  of  tracts  or  treatises,  called 
masiktoth,  and  these  again  subdivided  into 
Perakim,  i.e.,  chapters,  and  each  chapter 
again  into  Mishnieth  or  paragraphs.  The 
whole  is  called  Shas.  The  following  is  an 
analysis  of  the  contents  of  each  tractate  of 
the  six  orders  : 

I.  SEDER  ZERAIM  (Seed).  This  Seder 
contains  the  following  eleven  tractates  : 
I.  BeracJwtli,  or  the  treatise  of  blessings, 
and  speaks  in  nine  chapters  of  the  daily 
prayers  and  thanksgivings,  etc., — (a,)  the  first 
chapter  treats  of  the  time  when  the  Shema- 
prayer  is  to  be  recited  in  the  morning  and 
evening,  of  the  position  of  the  body  at 
prayers,  and  the  benedictions  to  be  said 
respectively  (5  sections)  ;  (b,)  the  second 
speaks  of  the  sections  and  order  of  the 
Shema-prayer,  or  how  the  voice  is  to  be 
used  in  saying  the  prayer,  and  of  the  occa- 
sions which  exempt  from  prayer  (8  sections) ; 
(c,)  the  third  points  out  such  as  are  ex- 
empted from  prayer  (6  sections) ;  (//,)  the 
fourth  treats  of  the  time  during  which 
prayers  may  be  said,  whether  the  Shemoneh 
Esre  (i.e.,  18  benedictions)  are  to  be  said  in 
an  abbreviated  manner  ;  of  prayer  as  an 
opus    operation,    of    praying     in    dangerous 


WHAT  IT  IS.  4g 

places,  and  of  the  additional  prayer  (7  sec- 
tions) ;  (e,)  the  fifth  refers  to  the  outer  and 
inner  position  at  prayer ;  of  prayer  for  rain  ; 
of  the  prayer  on  Sabbath  evening ;  of  the 
ministers  of  the  congregation  and  mistakes 
in  prayer  (5  sections) ;  (/,)  the  sixth  recites 
the  different  blessings  to  be  said  for  fruits 
of  the  tree  and  the  earth,  wine  and  bread  ; 
for  wine  before  and  after  meals  ;  of  the 
sitting  and  lying  at  the  table  ;  of  blessings 
for  the  main  meals  and  water  (8  sections); 
(<£'>)  the  seventh  expatiates  on  blessings  pro- 
nounced conjointly  ;  with  whom  a  union  for 
such  a  purpose  may  be  entered  upon  ;  the 
form  of  prayer  to  be  used  in  accordance 
with  the  number  of  persons,  of  different 
companies  (5  sections)  ;  (//,)  the  eighth  shows 
the  differences  between  the  schools  of 
Hillel  and  Shammai  concerning  the  washing 
of  hands  and  the  blessing  at  meals  (8  sec- 
tions) ;  (z,)  the  ninth  names  the  prayer  to  be 
said  at  beholding  signs  and  wonders,  at  the 
building  of  a  new  house,  and  treats  of 
prayers  offered  in  vain,  of  prayers  at  the 
leaving  and  going  into  a  city  ;  of  the  prais- 
ing of  God  for  the  good  as'  well  as  for  the 
evil  ;  how  to  approach  the  Temple  moun- 
tain ;  of  the  using  of  the  name  of  God  at 
salutations  (5  sections). 

II.  PEAH,  OR  THE  CORNER  OF  THE  FIELD, 
treats  in  eight  chapters,  of  the  field  corners, 
gleanings,  etc.,  to  be  left  to  the  poor,  etc.— 
(a,)  in  the  first  chapter  we  read  of  the  meas- 
ure of  the  Peah,  where,  of  what,  and  how 
large  it  must  be  given,  and  how  long  the 
fruit  is  exempted  from  tithe  (6  sections)  ;  (I?,) 
the  second  treats  of  how  fields  and  trees  as 
to  the  Peah  may  be  separated  from  each 
other  (8  sections)  ;  (c,)  tells  us  how  large  a 
field  must  be  of  which  Peah  must  be  given 
(11  sections);  (d,)  shows  how  the   Peah   must 


c0  THE  TALMUD; 

be  given  (it  sections);  (e,)  tells  what  be- 
longs to  the  poor,  and  treats  of  the  bunch 
left  through  forgetfulness  (8  sections) ;  (/,) 
speaks  of  what  may  be  regarded  as  a  bunch 
left  through  forgetfulness,  and  what  not 
(n  sections);  (g,)  treats  of  the  same  matter 
concerning  olive-trees  ;  on  the  right  of  the 
poor  in  the  vineyard  (8  sections)  ;  (//,)  speaks 
of  how  long  the  right  of  the  poor  lasts; 
what  constitutes  the  poor,  and  who  is  not 
entitled  to  the  right  of  the  poor  (9  sections). 

III.  DEMAI,  OR  DOUBTFUL  treats  in  seven 
chapters  of  fruits  about  which  some  doubts 
may  be  raised  whether  tithes  should  be 
paid  for  them  or  not,  viz.,  (a,)  which  fruits 
are  exempted  from  the  rights  of  Dema'i 
how  the  Dema'i  tithe  differs  from  other 
tithes,  and  as  to  the  rights  of  Dema'i  fruits 
(4  sections) ;  (&,)  who  may  be  regarded  a 
strict  Israelite,  and  to  whom  the  perform- 
ance of  the  Dema'i  law  belongs  at  buying 
and  selling ;  (c,)  who  may  reserve  Dema'i 
for  eating,  and  that  nothing  should  be 
given  away  untithed  (6  sections)  ;  (d,)  how  a 
man  may  be  believed  concerning  the  tithes 
(7  sections)  ;  how  the  tithe  is  to  be  given 
from  Dema'i  (11  sections)  ;  (V,)  what  to  do  at 
the  renting  of  a  field,  at  the  pressing  in 
company,  and  of  the  fruits  in  Syria  (12 
sections)  ;  (/,)  how  to  act  with  such  as  are 
not  believed  concerning  the  tithes  ;  how  to 
separate  the  tithes  in  divers  cases;  and 
what  must  be  taken  into  account  when 
tithed  and  untithed  fruits  are  mixed  up 
(8  sections). 

IV.  KILAYIM,  OR  MIXTURES  treats,  in 
nine  chapters,  of  the  prohibited  mingling  of 
fruit  and  grain  crops  on  the  same  field,  etc., 
viz.  (a,)  which  kinds  of  fruits,  trees,  and 
animals  are  ICilayim,  and  how  to  graft  and 
plant  (9  sections) ;  (b,)  what  to  do  when  two 


WIIA  T  IT  IS. 


5* 


kinds  of  seed  are  mixed,  or  in  case  of  sow- 
ing another  kind  on  a  field  already  sown,  or 
in  case  of  making  beds  of  different  corn  in 
one  field  (11  sections);  (c,)  of  beds,  their 
division  ;  of  cabbage  and  its  distance  (7 
sections);  (d  and  e,)  of  vineyards  and  their 
Kilayim  (9  and  8  sections);  (/",)  of  the  rights 
of  a  vine  raised  on  an  espalier  (9  sections)  ; 
(g,)  of  the  layering  of  vines,  spreading  of 
vines,  etc.,  (8  sections)  ;  (//,)  in  how  far 
Kilayim  are  forbidden  among  animals,  in 
yoking  together  as  well  as  in  copulating, 
and  what  to  do  with  bastards  and  some 
other  animals  (6  sections)  ;  (7,)  of  Kilayim  in 
garments,  especially  of  the  mixture  of  wool 
and  flax  ;  of  clothing — merchants  and  tai- 
lors ;  of  felt  and  woven  letters,  etc.  (10  sec- 
tions). 

V.  SHEBUTH  OR  THE  SABBATICAL  YEAR, 
in  ten  chapters :  (a,)  of  fields  with  trees,  and 
how  long  they  may  be  cultivated  in  the 
sixth  year  (8  sections)  ;  (/?,)  of  open  fields, 
and  what  may  be  done  in  them  till  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventh  year  (10  sections)  ;  (ct) 
of  manuring  the  field  ;  of  breaking  stones 
and  pulling  down  walls  (10  sections);  (d,)  of 
cutting  and  pruning  trees  ;  from  what  time 
on  it  is  permitted  to  eat  of  the  fruits  of  the 
seventh  year  which  have  grown  by  them- 
selves (10  sections) ;  (V,)  concerning  the  white 
fig  and  summer  onions  ;  which  farm  utensils 
cannot  be  sold  and  lent  (9  sections)  ;  (/,)  of 
the  difference  of  countries  concerning  the 
seventh  year,  and  what  fruits  cannot  be 
taken  outside  of  the  country  (6  sections) ;  (g,) 
what  things  are  subject  to  the  right  of  the 
seventh  year  (7  sections)  ;  (//,)  what  use  may 
be  made  of  fruits  which  have  grown  by 
themselves  ;  what  must  be  observed  at  their 
sale  and  the  proceeds  thereof ;  how  they  are 
to   be  gathered    (1 1    sections) ;     (i,)    of    the 


t2  THE  TALMUD; 

fruits  which  may  be  bought,  and  of  storing 
away  the  preserved  fruits  (9  sections)  ;  (J,) 
of  the  remittance  of  debts  (9  sections). 

VI.  TERUMOTH    OR    OBLATIONS,    relates  in 
eleven  chapters,  to   the   heave   offering  ;    (a,) 
what   persons  can   give  the    Terumoth,   and 
of  which  fruits  ;  and  of  giving  the  Terumoth 
not    according    to    number,     measure     and 
weight  (10  sections) ;  (d,)  the  Terumoth  can- 
not be  given  from  the  pure  for  the  impure  ; 
of    distinguishing    whether     something    was 
done  purposely  or  by  mistake  ;  and  that  one 
kind  of  fruit  can    supply   the    Terumoth  of 
another  (6  sections)  ;   (c,)  in  which  cases  the 
Terumoth    must   be   given    a  second    time ; 
how   to   determine    the    Terumah ;    of    the 
Terumah  of  a  Gentile  (9  sections)  ;  (d  and  e,) 
of  the   quantity  of  the   large  Terumah  :    in 
which    cases     common    fruit     becomes    not 
medumma  {i.e.,  is  to   be    given    entirely  as 
Terumah),   in  spite  of   having   been    mixed 
with  Terumah   (13   and  9  sections);  (/,)  of 
the  restitution  of  the  Terumah,  when  a  per- 
son has  eaten  thereof  by  mistake  (5  sections) ; 
(£-,)  when  a  person  eats  thereof  with  inten- 
tion (7  sections)  ;     (//,)  of    the    care    that    a 
Terumah  get  neither  unclean  nor  poisoned 
(12  sections);  (*',)  what  is  to  be  done  in  case 
Terumah  has  been  sown  (7  sections) ;  (/,)  how 
common  fruits  by  the    mere    taste  can  be- 
come Terumah  fruit  (12   sections);  (k,)  how 
the    oil    of   a   Terumah    cannot    be   burned, 
when  the   priest  cannot   enjoy   its  light   (10 
sections). 

VII.  MAASEROTH,  OR  TITHES,  due  to  the 
Levites,  in  five  chapters  ;  (/?,)  of  the  kinds  of 
fruits  subject  to  tithes,  and  from  what  time 
on-  they  are  due  (8  sections)  (&,)  of  excep- 
tions (8  sections)  ;  (r ,)  where  fruits  become 
tithable  (10  sections)  ;  (d,)  of  preserving, 
picking  out,  and  other  cases  exempted  from 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


53 


tithes  (6  sections) ;  (e,)  of  removing  of  plants, 
of  buying  and  selling  ;  of  wine  and  seed  that 
cannot  be  tithed  (8  sections). 

VJII.  MAASER  SHENI,  OR  SECOND  TITHE, 
which  the  Levites  had  to  pay  out  of  their 
tenth  to  the  priests,  in  five  chapters,  (#,) 
that  this  tenth  cannot  be  disposed  of  in  any 
way  (7  sections);  (d,)  only  things  necessary 
for  eating,  drinking,  and  anointing,  can  be 
bought  for  the  money  of  the  tenth  ;  what  to 
do  when  tenth  money  must  be  exchanged 
(io  sections);  (c,)  fruits  of  the  second  tenth, 
while  once  in  Jerusalem,  cannot  be  taken 
out  again  (13  sections);  (//,)  what  must  be 
observed  at  the  price  of  the  tenth,  and  how 
money  and  that  which  is  found  must  be 
regarded  (12  sections) ;  (e,)  of  a  vineyard  in 
its  fourth  year,  the  fruits  of  which  are 
equally  regarded  as  the  fruits  of  the  second 
tenth  ;  and  how  the  binr,  or  taking  away  of 
the  tenth,  is  performed  in  a  solemn  manner 
according  to  Deut.  xxvi.  13  scq.  (15  sections.) 

IX.  CHALLAH  OR  DOUGH,  refers  to  the 
cake  which  the  women  were  required  to 
bring  of  kneaded  dough  to  the  priest,  in  four 
chapters:  (a,)  which  fruits  are  subject  to 
challah  (9  sections) ;  (b  and  c,)  of  special  cases 
which  need  a  more  precise  definition  con- 
cerning challah,  and  of  the  quantity  of  meal 
and  its  challah  (8  and  10  sections) ;  (//,)  of 
counting  together  of  different  fruits,  and  the 
different  rights  of  countries  concerning  Chal- 
lah (1 1  sections). 

X.  ORLAH,  lit.  FORESKIN,  of  the  forbidden 
fruits  of  the  trees  in  Palestine  during  the 
first  three  years  of  their  growth,  in  three 
chapters  ;  (<?,)  which  trees  are  subject  to  the 
law  of  Orlah  and  which  not  (9  sections) ;  (b,) 
what  to  do  in  case  of  fruits  of  Orlah  or  Kil- 
ayim  being  mixed  with  other  fruits  ;  of  the 
law    concerning    leaven,    spices,    and    meal; 


54  THE  TALMUD; 

what  to  do  in  case  of  holy  and  unholy,  or 
Chollin,  having  been  mixed  up  (17  sections); 
(c)  how  the  same  law  also  concerns  colors 
for  dyeing  purposes,  and  the  fire  used  for 
cooking ;  and  what  is  to  be  observed  con- 
cerning the  difference  of  countries  (9  sec- 
tions). 

XI.  BIKKURIM  OR  FIRST  FRUITS,  in  four 
chapters :  (/?,)  who  is  not  entitled  to  offer 
the  first  fruits,  or  who  can  offer  them  with- 
out observing  the  formula  prescribed  (Deut. 
xxvi.,  3)  ;  of  what  and  when  they  are  to  be 
offered  or  repaid  (11  sections);  (b)  of  the 
difference  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  Terumah 
and  the  second  tenth,  especially  of  the 
pomegranate  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  ; 
of  blood  of  men  and  of  the  animal  Coi  (prob- 
ably a  bastard  of  buck  and  roe),  which  must 
be  distinguished  from  all  animals  (11  sec- 
tions) ;  (c,)  of  the  ceremonies  to  be  observed 
at  bringing  the  first  fruits  to  Jerusalem  and 
their  rights  (12  sections);  (<?,)  of  the  her- 
maphrodite (5  sections).  This  chapter  is  Bor- 
aitha,  or  addition  to  the  second  chapter,  and 
is  wanting  where  only  the  Mishna  is  printed. 

II.  SEDER    MOED  (FESTIVE   SOLEMNITY). 

This  Seder,  one  of  the  most  interesting, 
consists  of  twelve  tractates  : 

XII.  Shabbath,  containing  twenty-four 
chapters,  treats  of  the  laws  relating  to  the 
Sabbath,  with  respect  to  lights  and  oil  used 
on  that  day,  ovens  in  which  articles  of  food 
were  warmed  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  dress 
of  men  and  women  used  on  the  same  day. 
It  also  enumerates  thirty-nine  kinds  of  work, 
by  each  of  which,  separately,  the  guilt  of 
Sabbath-breaking  may  be  incurred.  It  treats 
of  the  differences  between  the  schools  of 
Hillel    and    Shammai,    etc.,    viz.    (a})   of    re- 


•    WHA  T  IT  IS.  c  5 

movals  on  the  Sabbath  day ;  work  to  be 
avoided ;  discussion  between  the  schools  of 
Hillel  and  Shammai  as  to  what  constitutes 
work;  work  allowed  (u  sections) ;  (b,)  of  the 
lighting  of  a  lamp ;  eve  of  the  Sabbath 
(7  sections  *  )  ;  (c,)  of  different  ovens,  and  pre- 
paring and  warming  the  meat  on  Sabbath  ; 
of  pails  for  retention  of  the  dripping  oil  or 
sparks  of  the  lamps  (8  sections)  ;  (d,)  of 
things  to  cover  up  pots  to  retain  the  heat, 
and  of  things  not  to  cover  up  the  pots  (2  sec- 
tions) ;  (e,)  with  what  a  beast  is  led  forth  or 
covered,  especially  a  camel  (4  sections) ;  (/*,) 
with  what  women  and  men  may  go  out  or 
not  go  out  on  the  Sabbath  :  of  various  styles  ; 
of  pinning  the  veil  ;  of  ribbons,  etc.  (10  sec- 
tions) ;  (£*,)  of  how  many  sin-offerings  a  man 
may  be  responsible  for  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances for  ignorantly  trespassing  against 
the  Sabbath  ;  the  thirty-nine  kinds  of  for- 
bidden work  ;  rule  and  measure  for  things 
the  carrying  of  which  makes  liable  to  a  sin- 
offering  (4  sections) ;  (//,)  of  the  measure  of 
fluids ;  of  cords,  bulrushes,  paper,  and  all 
possible  portable  things  (7  sections)  ;  («,)  of 
things  the  carrying  of  which  makes  unclean, 
and  of  the  measure  of  the  portable  things 
on  the  Sabbath  day  (7  sections)  ;  (/,)  of 
different  kinds  of  portable  things  ;  of  carry- 
ing living  or  dead  men,  and  of  many  other 
things  (6  sections) ;  (k),  of  throwing  over  the 
street,  ditch,  and  rock,  river  and  land  ;  of 
the  distance  how  far  it  can  be  thrown,  and 
the  presumable  error  (6  sections)  ;  (/,)  of 
building,  hammering,  planing,  boring,  plough- 
ing, gathering  wood,  pruning,  picking  up, 
writing  (6' sections) ;  (;/?,)  of  weaving,  sewing, 
cutting,    washing,     beating,    catching    game, 


1,  This  chapter  forms  a  part  of  the  prayers  prescribed  for  Sab- 
bath eve. 


56 


THE  TALMUD. 


etc.  (7  sections)  ;  (n,)  of  catching  game  ;  of 
making  salt  water,  of  forbidden  medicines, 
toothache,  and  pains  in  the  loins ;  (0,)  of 
tying  and  untying  of  knots  ;  of  folding  gar- 
ments, and  making  the  beds  (3  sections); 
(/,)  of  saving  things  out  of  a  conflagration; 
of  extinguishing  and  covering,  etc.  (8  sec- 
tions) ;  (q,)  of  vessels  which  may  be  moved 
on  the  Sabbath  (8  sections)  ;  (;',)  what  things 
may  be  moved  for  making  room  ;  of  hens, 
calves,  asses;  of  leading  the  child  of  an 
animal  that  calves  ;  a  woman  that  is  to  be 
delivered,  and  of  a  child  (3  sections) ;  (s,)  of 
circumcision  on  the  Sabbath  (6  sections)  ; 
(/,)  of  straining  the  wine;  of  fodder;  of 
cleansing  the  crib ;  of  straw  on  the  beds  and 
clothes-press  (5  sections)  ;  (//,)  of  things  per- 
mitted to  be  carried  ;  of  cleaning  a  pillow  ; 
the  table,  of  picking  up  the  crumbs  ;  and  of 
sponges  (3  sections);  \v>)  of  casks,  cisterns, 
bathing-clothes,  salves,  etc.;  of  emetics ;  of 
setting  a  limb  or  a  rupture  (6  sections)  ;  (w.) 
of  borrowing;  of  counting  from  a  book, 
drawing  lots,  hiring  laborers  ;  of  waiting  at 
the  end  of  a  Sabbath-way ;  of  mourning- 
pipes,  coffin  and  grave  which  a  heathen  has 
dug ;  what  may  be  done  to  the  dead  (5  sec- 
tions) ;  (.r,)  of  one  who  is  overtaken  by  the 
dusk  on  the  road  ;  of  feeding  the  animals ; 
of  pumpkins  and  carrion  ;  of  several  things 
permitted  on  the  Sabbath  (5  sections). 

XIII.  ERUBIN  OR  MINGLING,  in  ten  chap- 
ters, deals  with  those  ceremonies  by  which 
the  Sabbath  boundary  was  extended  ;  "  ming- 
ling" a  whole  town  into  one  fictitious  yard, 
so  that  carrying  within  should  not  be  unlaw- 
ful ;  (a  and  /;,')  concerning  the  entry  to  an  ally 
and  enclosures  (10  and  6  sections);  (c,)  con- 
cerning a  holyday  or  a  Friday  (9  sections)  ; 
(</,)  concerning  the  stepping  beyond  the 
Sabbath   limit  (11    sections);  (V,)  concerning 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


57 


the  enlarging  the  bounds  of  a  city  (9  sec- 
tions) ;  (/  and  g,)  concerning  the  neighbor- 
hood (10  and  1 1  sections) ;  (//,)  concerning 
what  may  be  in  a  yard  (1 1  sections)  ;  (z,)  con- 
cerning roofs;  etc.,  (4  sections) ;  (j.)  concern- 
ing some  different  Sabbath  laws  (15  sec- 
tions). 

XIV.  PESACHIM  in  ten  chapters,  treats  of 
the  paschal  festival  and  things  connected 
with  its  celebration  ;  (a,  b,  and  c,)  of  searching 
for  leaven  ;  how  to  put  it  away ;  of  the 
Easter-cake,  and  the  herbs  for  the  bitter 
herbs ;  of  the  care  to  avoid  leaven  (7+  8  + 
9  sections) ;  (d,)  of  the  works  on  the  day 
before  Easter,  and  what  kind  of  works  are 
permitted  (9  sections)  ;  (e,)  when  and  how  to 
kill  the  Paschal  lamb  ;  of  cleaning  and  skin- 
ning the  same,  and  how  it  becomes  disal- 
lowed (jo  sections)  ;  (/,)  how  the  Passover 
abrogates  the  command  against  work  on 
the  Sabbath  ;  of  the  offering  of  festival 
sacrifices  ;  of  a  sacrifice  having  been  changed 
with  another  (6  sections) ,  (g  and  //,)  of 
roasting  the  lamb  ;  how  it  becomes  unclean  ; 
what  to  do  with  the  remaining  parts  ;  what 
persons  are  allowed  to  eat  it  and  what  are 
not;  of  companies  (13  and  8  sections);  (*,) 
of  the  second  Easter;  of  the  Easter  in 
Egypt,  and  divers  cases  when  paschal  lambs 
have  been  exchanged  (n  sections);  (/,)  of 
the  order  at  the  Easter-meal  after  the  four 
cups  of  wine  which  are  necessary  for  it  (9 
sections). 

XV.  SHEKALIM,  OR  SHEKELS,  in  eight 
chapters,  contains  laws  relating  to  the  half 
shekel  which  was  paid  for  the  support  of 
public  worship  (a  dy)  how  the  money  chang- 
ers take  their  scat  at  the  money  tables  on 
the  15th  of  Adar,  where  the  people  exchange 
their  money  ;  of  changing  and  of  coins  used 
in    former   times    of   the    remaining  money ; 


58 


THE   TALMUD; 


how  the  paid  shekels  may  be  taken  again  from 
the  treasury ;  how  they  are  to  be  spent,  and 
what  to  do  with  the  balance  (7+5-1-4+9  sec- 
tions) ;  (e,)  of  the  offices  of  the  sanctuary,  and 
of  the  seals  (6  sections)  ;  (/,  )  how  often  the 
number  thirteen  occurred  in  the  sanctuary  (6 
sections)  ;  (g,)  of  money  and  other  things 
which  are  found,  when  it  is  doubtful  to  whom 
they  belong  (7  sections)  ;  (//,)  of  other  dubious 
things,  resolution  that  the  shekel  and  first- 
lings have  ceased  with  the  Temple  (8  sec- 
tions.) 

XVI.  YOMA,  OR  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT, 
in  8  chapters,  speaks  (a,)  of  the  preparations 
of  the  high  priest  (8  sections) ;  (/?,)  of  casting 
lots,  and  the  offerings  (7  sections) ;  (c,)  of  the 
beginning  of  the  Day  of  Atonement;  of 
bathing,  washing,  and  dressing  the  high 
priest,  and  of  presenting  the  bullocks  and 
goats  (1 1  sections) ;  (//,)  of  casting  the  lots 
upon  the  goats,  and  the  confession  (6 
sections) ;  (e,)  what  was  to  be  done  in  the 
Holy  of  Holies  (7  sections)  ;  (/,)  of  sending 
forth  the  goat  (8  sections)  ;  (g,)  what  the  high- 
priest  was  meanwhile  to  do,  and  until  the 
end  of  his  service  at  night  (5  sections) ;  (//,)  of 
the  privileges  of  fasting,  how  man  is  forgiv- 
en, and  how  he  is  not  forgiven  (9  sections). 

XVII.  SUKKAH,  OR  THE  FEAST  OF  TABER- 
NACLES, in  five  chapters:  (a  and  b)  of  the 
size  and  covering  of  the  Sukkah,  how  often 
meals  should  be  eaten  in  it ;  exemptions  (n 
+9  sections)  ;  (V  and  d,)  of  the  palm-branches, 
myrtle  boughs,  willows,  citrons  ;  what  consti- 
tutes their  fitness,  and  what  not  ;  how  to  tie 
and  shake  them  ;  how  many  days  these  cere- 
monies last,  of  the  pouring  out  of  the  water  (15 
+  10  sections);  (e,)  of  the  rejoicings  ;  how  to 
divide  the  offerings  and  shew-bread  on  this 
festival  among  the  orders  of  the  priests  (8 
sections). 


what  it  is.  59 

XVIII.  YOM  TOB,  i.r.,  GOOD  DAY,  or,  as  it 
is  generally  called  BETZAH,  i.e.,  the  egg,  from 
the  word  with  which  it  commences,  contain- 
ing 5  chapters  ;  (a,)  whether  an  egg  laid  on 
the  festival  day  may  be  eaten  thereon.  On 
this  question  the  schools  of  Shammai  and 
Hillel  are  divided  ;  the  former  decide  in 
the  affirmative,  the  latter  in  the  negative  (10 
sections)  ;  (/;,)  of  connecting  the  meals  on  the 
Sabbath  and  other  subsequent  holy  days  (9 
sections)  ;  (c,)  of  catching  and  killing  animals  ; 
how  to  buy  the  necessary  things  without 
mentioning  the  money  (8  sections) ;  (d, )  of 
carrying,  especially  wood  not  required  for 
burning  (7  sections) ;  (V,)  enumeration  and 
precise  definition  of  classes  of  things  which 
cannot  be  done  on  a  feast-day,  still  less  on  a 
Sabbath  day  (7  sections). 

XIX.  ROSH  HA-SHANAH,  OR  NEW  YEAR,  ill 
four  chapters  :  (>,)  of  the  four  New  Years  (9 
sections) ;  (b  and  c,)  of  examining  witnesses 
who  witnessed  the  new  moon,  and  of  an- 
nouncing it  on  the  top  of  the  mountains  by 
fire,  and  the  New  Year  with  cornets  (9  +  8 
sections) ;  (d, )  what  to  do  in  case  the  New 
Year  falls  on  the  Sabbath  and  of  the  order  of 
service  on  the  New  Year  (9  sections). 

XX.  TAANITH,  OR  FASTING,  iii  four  chap- 
ters :  (a,)  of  prayer  for  rain,  and  proclamation 
of  fasting  in  case  the  rain  does  not  come  in 
due  season  (7  sections) :  (b,)  of  the  ceremonies 
and  prayers  on  the  great  fast-days  (10  sec- 
tions) ;  (c,) 1  of  other  occasions  of  fasting;  of 
not  blowing  alarms  ;  when  to  cease  fasting, 
in  case  it  rains  (9  sections) ;  (d, )  of  the  twenty- 
four  delegates;  their  fastings,  lessons;  of 
bringing  wood  for  the  altar  (8  sections). 

XXI.  MKG1LLAH,  or  the  ROLL  OF  THE 
BOOK  OF  ESTHER,  in  four  chapters  ;  (a,)  of  the 
days  on  which  the  Megillah  is  read  (11  sec- 
tions) ;  (b,)  how   to   read   the   Megillah,  what 


60  THE   TALMUD; 

can  only  be  done  by  day,  and  what  can  be 
done  by  night ;  (r,)  of  the  sale  of  holy  things  ; 
of  the  lessons  for  the  Sabbath  during  the 
month  of  Adar,  and  for  other  festivals  (6  sec- 
tions) ;  ((/, )  of  the  persons  required  for  the  les- 
sons ;  of  passages  to  be  read  or  not,  etc.  (10 
sections). 

XXII.  MOED  KATON,  OR  SMALL  HOLYDAY, 
in  three  chapters,  treats  of  the  half-holydays 
between  the  first  and  the  last  day  of  the 
Passover,  and  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles, 
and  of  the  work  to  be  done  or  not  (10+54-9 
sections). 

XXIII.  CHAGIGAH,  OR  FEASTLNG,  in  three 
chapters,  speaks  of  the  voluntary  sacrifices — • 
other  than  the  paschal  lamb — offered  by 
individual  Jews  on  the  great  feasts,  and  of 
sundry  ordinances  having  no  direct  connec- 
tion with  the  subject  indicated  by  the  title 
of  the  treatise  (8+7+8  sections). 

III.    SEDER  NASHIM  (WOMEN). 

This  Seder  is  composed  of  seven  treatises, 
viz. : 

XXIV.  YEBAMOTH  enters  into  the  minut- 
est details  as  to  the  peculiar  Jewish  precept 
of  yibbum,  or  the  obligation  of  marrying 
the  childless  widow  of  a  brother,  with  the  al- 
ternative disgrace  of  the  performance  of  the 
cJialitsali,  or  removal  of  the  shoe  of  the  re- 
calcitrant, referred  to  in  the  book  of  Ruth. 
It  contains  16  chapters,  in  123  sections.  Sev- 
eral portions  of  this  treatise  are  so  offensive 
to  all  feelings  of  delicacy  that  they  have  been 
left  untranslated  by  the  English  translators. 

XXV.  KETHUBOTH,  in  thirteen  chapters, 
contains  the  laws  relating  to  marriage  con- 
tracts, to  conjugal  duties  (105  sections). 

XXVI.  NEDARIM,  OR  VOWS,  in  eleven 
chapters  (89  sections). 


WHAT  IT  is.  6r 

XXVII.  NAZIR,  in  nine  chapters,  concern- 
ing the  Nazarite  (60  sections). 

XXVIII.  SOTAH,  or  the  ERRING  WOMAN, 
in  nine  chapters  and  63  sections.  The  last 
sections  foretell  the  signs  of  the  approaching 
Messiah. 

XXIX.  GITTIN,  OR  DIVORCE  BILLS,  in  nine 
chapters,  treats  of  divorce,  and  the  writing 
given  to  the  wife,  on  that  occasion  ;  how  it 
must  be  written  etc.  (76  sections). 

XXX.  KIDDUSHIN,  OR  BETROTHALS,  in 
four  chapters  with  47  sections.  In  the  last 
section  we  are  told  that  all  ass-drivers  are 
wicked,  camel-drivers  are  honest,  sailors  are 
pious,  physicians  are  destined  for  hell,  and 
butchers  are  company  for  Amalek. 

IV.    SEDER  NEZIKIN  (DAMAGES). 

This  Seder  contains  ten  tractates. 

XXXI.  BABA  KAMMA,  or  the  FIRST  GATE, 
so  called  because  in  the  East  Law  is  often 
administered  in  the  gate-way  of  a  city.  It 
treats,  in  ten  chapters  (79  sections),  of  dam- 
ages and  restitutions. 

XXXII.  BABA  MEZIA,  or  the  MIDDLE 
GATE,  in  ten  chapters  (101  sections),  treats 
of  claims  resulting  from  trusts,  of  buying 
and  selling,  etc. 

XXXIII.  BABA  BATIIRA  or  the  LAST 
GATE,  treats  in  ten  chapters  (90  sections) 
of  the  partition  of  immovables,  laws  of 
tenantry,  joint  occupation,  and  rights  of 
common,  of  inheritances,  division  of  property, 
etc. 

XXXIV.  SANHEDRIN  OR  COURTS  OF 
JUSTICE,  in  eleven  chapters  (71  sections), 
treats  of  the  difference  of  the  three  tribunals 
of,  a,  at  least  three  persons ;  b,  the  small 
Sanhedrin  of  23  persons  ;  and  c,  the  great 
Sanhedrin  of  71  persons;   of    the  privileges 


62  THE  TALMUD-, 

of  the  high  priest   and   king;   of  judges  and 
witnesses  of  capital  punishments. 

XXXV.  MAKKOTH  OR  STRIPES,  in  three 
chapters  (34  sections),  treats  of  corporal 
punishments. 

XXXVI.  SHEBUOTH  OR  OATHS,  8  chap- 
ters (62  sections). 

XXXVII.  EDUYOTH  OR  TESTIMONIES,  8 
chapters  (74  sections).  It  is  so  called  because 
it  consists  of  laws  which  tried  and  trust- 
worthy teachers  attested  to  have  been  adopted 
by  the  elder  teachers,  in  Sanhedrin  assem- 
bled ;  at  the  end  we  read  that  Elijah  the 
Prophet  will  finally  determine  all  disputed 
points  of  the  sages  and  will  bring  peace. 

XXXVIII.  ABODA  ZARAH  OR  IDOLATRY, 
5  chapters  (50  sections),  treats  of  the  relation 
between  Jews  and  Gentiles. 

XXXIX.  ABOTH  OR  PIRKEY  ABOTH,  con- 
tains in  6  chapters  (105  sections),  the  ethical 
maxims  and  sayings  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Mishna. 

XL.  HORAYOTH  OR  DECISIONS,  treats  in  3 
chapters  (20  sections),  of  the  manner  of  pro- 
nouncing sentences  and  other  matters  re- 
lating to  judges  and  their  functions;  of  pre- 
rogatives of  the  high  priest  before  a  com- 
mon priest,  of  the  learned  before  the  un- 
learned, etc. 

V.     SEDER      KODASHIM        (CONSECRATIONS). 

This  Seder  contains  eleven  tractates. 

XLI.  ZEBACHIM  OR  SACRIFICES,  treats  in 
14  chapters  (101  sections),  of  sacrifices,  sprink- 
ling of  their  blood,  place  of  the  altar  where 
every  sacrifice  has  to  be  offered,  etc. 

XLI  I.  MENACHOTH  OR  MEAT  OFFERINGS, 
treats  in  13  chapters  (93  sections),  of  meat 
offerings,  and  things  pertaining  to  them. 

XLI  1 1.      CHULLIN     OR      UNCONSECRATED 


WHA  T  IT  IS.  6$ 

THINGS  are  treated  in  12  chapters  (74  sec- 
tions), together  with  other  things,  as  what 
animals  are  unlawful,  or  the  pollution  com- 
municated by  an  unlawful  animal,  etc. 

XLIV.  BECHOROTH  OR  FIRST-BORN,  treats 
in  9  chapters  (73  sections),  of  the  first-born 
and  the  precepts  and  rights  concerningly. 

XLV.  ERACHIN  OR  ESTIMATES,  treats  in 
9  chapters  (49  sections),  of  the  person  who 
has  to  make  the  estimate  and  on  what  and 
how. 

XLVI.  TEMURAH  OR  EXCHANGES,  in  7 
chapters  (35  sections),  treats  of  the  way  ex- 
changes are  to  be  offered  between  sacred 
things. 

XLVII.  KERITHUTH  OR  CUTTING  OFF,  in 
7  chapters  (43  sections),  treats  of  offenders 
being  cut  off  from  the  Lord,  provided  the 
offences  were  wantonly  committed  :  but  if  in- 
advertently committed,  entail  the  obligation 
to  bring  sin  offerings. 

XLVI  1 1,  meila  OR  TRESPASS,  treats  of 
things  partaking  of  the  name  of  the  sacrilege 
6  chapters  (38  sections). 

XLIX.  TAMID  OR  DAILY  SACRIFICES,  in  7 
chapters  (34  sections),  treats  of  the  morning 
and  evening  offerings  and  the  work  connected 
with  them. 

L.  MIDDOTH  OR  MEASUREMENTS,  in  5 
chapters  (34  sections),  treats  of  the  measure- 
ments of  the  Temple,  its  different  parts  and 
courts. 

LI.  KINNIM  OR  BIRDS'  NESTS,  treats  in  3 
chapters  (15  sections),  of  the  mistakes  about 
doves  and  beasts  brought  into  the  Temple 
for  sacrifice. 

VI.      SEDER      TOIIAROTH     (PURIFICATIONS). 

This  order  has  twelve  tractates. 

LII.  KELIM    OR  VESSELS,    in    30  chapters 


64 


THE  TALMUD 


(254  sections),  treats  of  those  which  convey 
uncleanness. 

LIII.  ohaloth  OR  TENTS,  in  18  chapters, 
(134  sections),  treats  of  tents  and  houses  re- 
taining uncleanness,  etc. 

LIV.  NEGAIM  OR  PLAGUES  OF  LEPROSY, 
in  14  chapters  (115  sections),  treats  of  leprosy 
of  men,  garments  or  dwellings. 

LV.  PARAH  OR  THE  RED  HEIFER,  in  12 
chapters  (95  sections),  directs  how  she  is  to 
be  burned,  of  her  age,  and  what  may  make 
her  unfit,  etc. 

LVI.  TOHAROTH  OR  PURIFICATIONS,  in 
10  chapters  (92  sections),  teaches  how  purifi- 
cations are  to  be  effected. 

LVII.  MIKVAOTH  OR  POOLS  OF  WATER, 
in  10  chapters  (71  sections),  treats  of  the 
mikvdh  or  bathing  place,  its  construction,  and 
the  quantity  of  water  necessary  for  cleansing  ; 
or  when  a  mikvah  becomes  unfit  for  bathing, 
etc. 

LV1II.  NIDDAH  OR  SEPARATION  of  women 
during  their  menses,  after  childbirth,  etc., 
10  chapters  (79  sections). 

LIX.  MACHSHIRIN  OR  LIQUORS  that  dis- 
pose seeds  and  fruits  to  receive  pollution,  6 
chapters  (54  sections'). 

LX.  ZABIM  OR  BODILY  FLUXES  that  cause 
pollution,  5  chapters  (32  sections). 

LXI.  TEBUL  VOM  OR  BAPTISM  ON  THE 
DAY  OF  UNCLEANNESS,  4  chapters  (26  sec- 
tions). 

LXI  I.  YADAIM  OR  HANDS,  4  chapters  (21 
sections),  treats  of  the  washing  of  hands  and 
of  the  disputes  between  the  Pharisees 
and  Sadducees  concerningly,  of  the  can- 
onicity  of  certain  parts  in  and  of  certain 
books  of  the  Old  Testament. 

LXIII.  UKZIN  OR  STALKS  OF  FRUIT  which 
convey  uncleanness,  in  3  chapters  (2$  sec- 
tions). 


WHA  T  IT  IS.  65 


EDITIONS   OF  THE   MISHNA. 

The  Mishna  has  been  often  published. 
The  first  edition  was  published  at  Naples, 
1492,  with  the  commentary  of  Maimonides. 
With  the  same  commentary  and  that  of 
Obadiah  di  Bertinoro,  it  was  published  at 
Riva  di  Trento,  1559,  and  Venice,  1606. 
The  text  alone  with  vowel-points  was  pub- 
lished at  Amsterdam,  1646 ;  in  the  latter 
place  was  also  published,  1698- 1 703,  the 
splendid  edition  of  Surenhusius,  giving 
besides  the  text  in  the  original  and  Latin, 
also  the  commentaries  of  Maimonides  and 
Obadiah  di  Bertinoro  in  Latin,  notes,  etc., 
6  vols,  folio.  An  edition,  giving  the  text 
with  vowels  and  a  German  translation  in  He- 
brew letters,  was  published,  Berlin,  i832-'34, 
6  vols.  Of  recent  editions  we  mention  the 
Mishna  with  the  Commentary  of  Bertinoro 
and  a  Judaco-German  translation  in  Hebrew 
letters,  published  at  Warsaw,  1882,  6  vols.;  an 
edition  containing  besides  the  Commentaries 
of  Bertinoro  and  Heller,  twelve  other  com- 
mentaries, was  published  at  Wilna,  1886,  6 
vols.  Of  late  the  Mishna  has  been  published 
from  a  MS.  preserved  at  Cambridge,  under 
the  title  :  The  Mishnah,  on  whicli  the  Palestin- 
ian Talmud  rests,  edited  by  W.  H.  Lowe, 
Cambridge,  1883. 

TRANSLATIONS   OF    THE    MISHNAH. 

Besides  the  Latin  version  of  Surenhuys, 
several  treatises  have  also  been  translated  in- 
to Latin  by  different  authors,  which  we  pass 
over.  Into  Spanish  it  was  translated  by  Ab- 
raham ben  Reuben,  Venice,  1606;  into  Ger- 
man by  Rabe,  Ausbach,  i/6o-T>3,  6  parts, 
and  Josh,  Berlin,  i832-'33,6  vols,  (the  trans- 
S 


66  THE  TALMUD  ; 

lation  is  in  Rabbinic  letters.)  We  have  not 
as  yet  a  complete  English  translation,  but  this 
want  the  present  writer  hopes  to  supply.  Of 
the  several  treatises,  the  following  are  trans- 
lated in  the  collections  of  De  Sola  and  Raph- 
ael (London,  1845),  and  of  Barclay  (1878). 
1.  Bcrachoth  (De  Sola,  Barclay),  2.  Kil- 
ayim  (De  Sola),  3.  Shebiith  (Barclay),  4. 
Shabbatli  (De  Sola,  Barclay,  but  the  latter 
has  only  translated  one-third.  The  remain- 
ing two-thirds,  he  says,  are  devoid  of  interest, 
and  in  parts  unfit  for  publication.)  5.  Eru- 
bin  (De  Sola),  6.  Pcsacliim,  7.  Yoma,  8. 
SnkkaJi  (both),  9.  Beza  (De  Sola),  10. 
Rosh-Jiasliana,  11.  Taanith  (both),  12. 
Megillali,  13.  Mo'ed  Katon  (De  Sola),  14. 
CJiagiga  (Barclay),  15.  JcbamotJi  (De  Sola. 
Besides  chapters  vi.  and  vii.  several  sec- 
tions were  omitted  by  the  translators,  the 
contents,  as  they  state,  not  being  suited 
to  the  refined  notions  of  the  English 
readers.)  16.  Kethnboth,  17.  Gittin,  18. 
Kiddnshin  (De  Sola),  19.  Sanhedrin,  20. 
Aboda  Sara,  21.  A  both  (Barclay),  22. 
Chullin  (De  Sola),  23.  Tamid,  24.  M id- 
doth,  25.  Nega'im,  26.  Para  (Barclay), 
27.  Jadayim  (both).  No  treatise  has  so  often 
been  translated  as  the  treatise  A  both.  The 
best  English  edition  is  that  by  Taylor, 
Sayings  of  the  Fathers  (Cambridge,  1877). 
The  Treatise  Middoth  has  also  been  trans- 
lated by  Edersheim,  and  is  found  in  his 
Sketches  of  Jewish  Social  Life,  p.  297,  sea., 
London. 

INTRODUCTION   TO   THE    MISHNA. 

Of  works  especially  devoted  to  the  Mishna, 
we  mention  Frankel  (Hodegetica,  Leipsic, 
iS<9),  Briil  1  (Einleitung,  Frankfort,  1876), and 
Weiss    (Zur    Geschichte  der  JiidiseJien    Tradi- 


WHAT  IT  IS. 


67 


tion,vo\s.  1   and   11,  Vienna,  1871,  1877),  but 
all  these  works  are  written  in  Hebrew. 

PHILOLOGICAL    HELPS. 

Hartmann,  Thesauri  lingua  Hcbraicce  e 
Mischna  angendi  partial  la  1,  11,  in,  Rostock 
1825-26.  Dukes,  Die  Sprache  der  Mischna 
lexicograpliisch  nnd  grammatisch  bctracJitet, 
Esslingen,  1846.  Weiss,  Studien  fiber  die 
Sprache  der  Mischna,  Vienna,  1867  (Hebrew). 
Geiger,  Lehr  und  Lesebuch  zur  Sprache  der 
Mischnali,  Breslau,  1845  (2  parts). 

R.  Juda's  Mishna,  however,  did  not  con- 
tain all  expositions.  Many  others  existed 
which  are  contained  in  part  in  the  Si/re  on 
Leviticus,  Sifri  on  Numbers  and  Deuteron- 
omy, Mecliilta  on  Exodus,  the  Mishnas  made 
by  individual  teachers  for  the  use  of  their 
pupils,  with  the  addition  of  the  official  Mish- 
na collected  by  R.  Chiya  and  his  cotem- 
poraries.  All  the  Halakhoth  of  this  sort, 
which  were  extra-Mishnaic,  were  called  £0- 
r  ait  hot  h,  also  Toseftoth.  Juda,  it  is  true, 
collected  the  great  mass  of  traditions  in  the 
work  called  Mishna;  "  but  even  this  copious 
work  could  not  satisfy,  for  the  length  of 
time,  the  zeal  of  the  rabbins  for  the  law,  for 
all  casuistry  is  endless  in  its  details.  There 
were  a  great  multitude  of  all  kinds  of  possibili- 
ties which  were  treated  in  the  Mishna,  and  yet, 
again,  each  single  sentence  left  open  divers 
possibilities,  divers  doubts,  and  considerations 
not  yet  finished.  Thus  it  was  an  inner  neces- 
sity of  the  matter  that  the  text  of  the  Mishna 
should  again  become  the  point  of  learned 
discussion.  Tartly  by  means  of  logic  (that 
is,  Rabbinical),  partly  with  the  help  of  the 
traditional  matter,  which  had  not  yet  been 
included  in  the  Mishna.  all  open  questions 
were  now  discussed.     This  task  was  carried 


58  THE    TALMUD; 

out  by  the  Amoraim,  or  Gemarical  doctors, 
whose  very  singular  illustrations,  opinions, 
and  doctrines  were  subsequently  to  form  the 
Gemaras,  i.e.  the  Palestinian  and  Babylonian: 
a  body  of  men  charged  with  being  the  most 
learned  and  elaborate  triflers  that  ever 
brought  discredit  upon  the  republic  of  let- 
ters : — 

"  For  mystic  learning,  wondrous  able, 
In  magic,  talisman,  and  cabal — 
Deep-sighted  in  intelligences, 
Ideas,  atoms,  influences.  " — 

With  unexampled  assiduity  did  they  seek 
after  or  invent  obscurities  and  ambiguities, 
which  continually  furnished  pretexts  for  new 
expositions  and  illustrations,  the  art  of  cloud- 
ing texts  in  themselves  clear  having  proved 
'ever  less  difficult  than  that  of  elucidating 
passages  the  words  or  the  sense  of  which  might 
be  really  involved  in  obscurity. 

"  Hence  comment  after  comment,  spun  as  fine 
As  bloated  spiders  draw  the  flimsy  line." 

The  two  main  schools  where  this  casuistic 
treatment  of  the  Mishnic  text  was  exercised 
were  that  at  Tiberias,  in  Palestine,  and  that 
at  Sora,  in  Babylonia,  whither  Abba  Areka, 
called  Rab,  a  pupil  of  R.  Juda,  had  brought 
the  Mishna.  In  these  and  other  schools  (as 
Nahardea,  Sipporis,  Pumbaditha  and  Jabne) 
the  thread  of  casuistry  was  twisted  over  and 
over  again  ;  and  the  matter  of  traditions  of 
the  law  thus  took  greater  and  greater  dimen- 
sions. Abandoning  the  scripture  text,  to 
illustrate  and  to  explain  which  the  doctors 
and  wise  men  of  the  schools  had  hitherto,  la- 
bored, successive  generations  of  Gemarici  now 
devoted  their  whole  attention  to  the  exposi- 
tion of  the  text  of  the  Mishna;  and  the  in- 
dustry and  cavillation  were  such  that  exposi- 
tions, illustrations  and  commentaries  multi- 


WIIA  T  IT  IS. 


69 


plied  with  amaziug  rapidity  and  to  so  por- 
tentous a  degree  that  they  eventually  swelled 
into  a  monstrous  chaotic  mass,  which  was  dig- 
nified by  the  name  of  Gemara,  i.e.,  "Supple- 
ment "  or  "  Complement,"  and  this,  together 
with  the  Mishna,  was  c.illed  "Talmud," 
Notwithstanding  the  uncertain  paternity 
of  this  incongruous  body  of  opinions,  there 
were  not  wanting  those  who  gave  a  prefer- 
ence to  the  Gemara  over  the  Mishna,  and 
even  over  the  "  written  law."  It  was  said  by 
some  that  the  "  written  law  "  was  like  water, 
the  Mishna  like  wine,  and  the  Gemara  like 
hippocras,  or  spiced  wine.  The  "  words  of 
the  scribes,"  said  those  supporters  of  the  Ge- 
mara are  lovely  above  the  "  words  of  the  law," 
for  the  "  words  of  the  law  "are  zveighty  and 
light,  but  the  "  words  of  the  scribes,"  are  all 
"  weighty." x  It  was  by  R.  Jochanan  ben  Elie- 
zer,  called  also  Bar  Naphhaox  the  "Son  of 
the  Blacksmith,"  rector  of  the  academy  of 
Tiberias,  that  the  minor  chaos  of  comment 
and  facetiae  began  to  be  collected  about  A.D 
260,  and  these,  being  added  to  the  Mishna 
were  termed  the  Palestinian  Talmud,  or  Tal- 
mud Jerushalmi,  i.  e.,  "Jerusalem  Talmud." 

THE  JERUSALEM  TALMUD. 

This  important  commentary  on  the 
Mishna,  which  was  completed  about  A.D. 
350,  has  not  come  down  to  us  entire;  what 
we  have  at  this  day  in  our  own  hands  is  only 
on  the  four  orders  Zeraim,  Mo'ed,  NasJiim 
Nezikim,  and  the  first  three  chapters  of  the' 
treatise  Niddah  (in  the  sixth  order).  But 
the  Jerusalem  Talmud  has  a  Gemara  on  the 
entire  first  order,  whereas  the  Babylonian  has 
it  only  on  the  first  treatise  of  that  order,  and 


1.  Comp.  my  art.    "  Talmud"  in  McClintock  and  Strongs  Cy- 
clopcedia. 


7° 


THE    TALMUD; 


a  Gemara  to  the  treatise  SJickalim,  which  is 
also  wanting  in  the  Babylonian  Talmud. 

The  language  of  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  is 
Talmudic  Hebrew,  with  a  strong  infusion  of 
the  Western  Aramaic,  then  common  in  Pales- 
tine. The  general  contents  of  the  Gemara  may 
be  classified  into  Halakhoth  and  Haggadoth; 
principles  or  rules  of  jurisprudence  and  legend- 
ary illustrations.  The  Haggadoth  were  often 
published.  A  German  translation  was  pub- 
lished by  A.  Wunshe,  Zurich,  1880. 

The  Jerusalem  Talmud  was  first  published 
by  D.  Bomberg  at  Venice,  without  date  ;  then 
with  brief  glosses  at  Cracow  in  1609,  and 
Krotoschin,  1866,  folio;  an  edition  in  4  vols, 
was  published  at  Shitomir,  1 8601 867.  A 
Latin  translation  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
Jerusalem  Gemara  is  found  in  Ugolino's  The- 
saurus Antiqq.  Sacr.;  viz.  vol.  xvii.:  Pesachim  ; 
vol.  xviii. :  Shckalim,  Yoma,  Sukka,  Rosh- 
Jiashana,  Taanith,  Megilla,  Hagiga,  Beza, 
Mocd  Katon ;  vol.  xx. :  Maascroth,  Challa, 
Or  la,  Bikkurim  ;  vol.  xxv.:  SanJicdrin,Mac- 
coth  ;  vol.  xxx.  :  KiddusJiin,  Sofa,  Kethuboth. 
The 'first  treatise,  Berachoth,  of  the  Jerusalem 
and  Babylonian  Gemara  was  translated  into 
German  by  Rabe,  Halle,  1777;  the  same  mat- 
ter was  translated  into  French  by  Chiarini, 
Leipsic,  1831.  A  French  translation  of  the 
entire  Jerusalem  Talmud  was  undertaken  by 
M.  Schwab.  The  first  volume  was  pub- 
lished at  Paris,  1872,  the  ninth,  in  1887.  Two 
more  volumes  will  complete  the  entire  work. 
The  best  work  on  the  Jerusalem  Talmud 
is  the  Introduction  published  by  Z.  Frankel, 
Breslau,  1870  (Hebrew). 

From  the  schools  of  Babylonia,  also,  a  sim- 
ilar collection  was  in  after-times  made,  but, 
as  upon  the  desolation  of  Palestine,  the 
study  of  the  law  was  chiefly  prosecuted  in 
Babylon,  the  colleges  there  were  far  more  nu- 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


7* 


merous,  and  far  more  ingenious  and  prolific 
were  the  imaginations  of  the  Babylonian  pro- 
fessors. To  collect  and  methodize  all  the 
disputations,  interpretations,  elucidations, 
commentaries,  and  conceits  of  the  Babylonian 
Gemarici  was  consequently  a  labor  neither 
of  one  man  nor  of  a  single  age.  The  first 
attempt  was  made  (a.d.  367 )  by  R.  Ashe 
ben  Simai,  surnamed  Rabban,  i.  e.,  our  teacher, 
elected  at  the  age  of  fourteen  to  be  rector  of 
the  school  of  Sora.  At  the  outset  of  his 
administration,  Ashe  found  the  immense  mass 
of  Gemara  learning  in  a  chaotic  confusion. 
The  text  of  the  Mishna  itself  had  become 
deteriorated  by  various  readings,  and  the 
current  explanations  of  many  points  in  it 
were  uncertain  and  contradictory.  One 
master  had  laid  down  this,  and  another  that; 
and  the  details  of  practice  in  Jewish  life  were 
thereby  growing  more  and  more  irregular. 
The  Jerusalem  Talmud  was  imperfect  as  a 
commentary  on  the  Mishna,  both  as  to  the 
extent  and  the  quality  of  its  qualifications. 
Many  parts  of  the  text  were  left  without 
Gemara,  and  the  commentary  on  those  parts, 
professedly  explained,  was  weakened  and 
often  worthless  by  a  large  admixture  of  mere 
fable  and  legend.  Under  these  circumstances 
Ashe  was  moved  to  undertake  a  connected 
and  comprehensive  commentary  on  the  trea- 
tises of  the  Mishna,  so  as  to  collect,  condense, 
and  set  in  order  the  entire  array  of  traditional 
law,  as  eliminated  by  the  rabbins  since  the 
time  of  Juda  the  Great.  This  was  the  enter- 
prise of  his  life,  and  one  which,  after  the 
lapse  of  many  laborious  years,  resulted  in  the 
consolidation  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud. 

Ashe,  who  died  in  427,  only  had  arranged 
thirty-five  books,  but  the  work  inaugurated 
by  him,  was  progressively  advanced  by  his 
successors,    till   its  completion  and  sealing  in 


j 2  THE  TALMUD; 

the  year  498  by  Rabbi  Abina,  with  whom 
ended  the  series  and  succession  of  the 
Amoraim,  or  Mishna  and  Talmud  authorities 
at  Sora.  "  Denominated,  from  the  name  of 
the  province  in  which  it  was  first  compiled, 
the  Babylonian  Talmud,  this  second  Talmud 
is  as  unmanageable  to  the  student  on  account 
of  its  style  and  composition  as  on  account  of 
its  prodigious  bulk.  Composed  in  a  dialect 
neither  Chaldaic  nor  Hebrew,  but  a  barbarous 
commixture  of  both  of  these  and  of  other  dia- 
lects, jumbled  together  in  defiance  of  all  the 
rules  of  composition  or  of  grammar,  it  affords  a 
second  specimen  of  a  Babylonian  confusion  of 
languages. 

"  It  was  a  parti-colored  dress 
Of  patched  and  piebald  languages, 
Which  made  some  think,  when  it  did  gabble. 
They'd  heard  three  laborers  of  Dabel, 
Or  Cerberus  himself  pronounce 
A  leash  of  languages  at  once.'' 

Abounding,  moreover,  in  fantastic  trifles 
and  Rabbinical  reveries,  it  must  appear 
almost  incredible  that  any  sane  man  could 
exhibit  such  acumen  and  such  ardor  in  the 
invention  of  those  unintelligible  comments,  in. 
those  nice  scrupulosities,  and  those  ludicrous 
chimeras  which  the  rabbins  have  solemnly 
published  to  the  world,  and  of  which  we  will 
speak  further  on.1 

THE  TALMUD. 

The  Talmud  (from  lamad  "  to  teach")  is  next 
to  (or  rather,  in  the  strictly  Jewish  view, 
along  with)  the  canonical  Scriptures,  the 
authoritative  code  of  Hebrew  doctrine  and 
jurisprudence.2      It    consists    of   the   Mishna 


1  Coinp.  my  nrl  .I.e. 

2  The  Jews  divided  Lheir  law  into  the  written  and  unwritten.  The 

latter,    which  is  also  called  "  the  oral  law,"    it  is  claimed  to  have 
been    delivered  to   Joshua  by    Moses,  who   again    received    it    on 


IV HA  T  IT  IS. 


73 


as  text,  and  a  voluminous  collection  of  com- 
mentaries and  Illustrations,  called  in  the  more 
modern  Hebrew,  hofaa,  and  in  Aramaic 
Gemara,  "  the  complement,"  or  "  completion" 
from  gamar,  to  make  perfect.  The  men 
therefore  who  delivered  these  decisive  com- 
mentaries are  called  gem'arists,  sometimes 
horaim,  but  more  commonly  Amora'im. 

In  general  the  Gemara  takes  the  character 
of  scholastic  discussions,  more  or  less  pro- 
longed, on  the  consecutive  portions  of  the 
Mishna.  '  On  a  cursory  view,  it  is  true, 
these  discussions  have  the  air  of  a  desultory 
and  confused  wrangle,  but  when  studied 
more  carefully,  they  resolve  themselves  into 
a  system  governed  by  a  methodology  of  its 


Mount  Sinai.  Appeal  is  therefore  often  made  to  these  so  called 
"precepts  delivered  to  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai,"  and  the  more  so 
because  these  "precepts"  belong  to  the  class  of  undisputed  deci- 
sions. 

i.  As  an  example  we  quote  the  following  from  the  very  first  page 
of  the  Talmud  :  Mishna—"  At  what  time  in  the  evening  should 
one  say  the  Shema  ?  *  From  the  time  that  the  priests  go  in  to  eat 
of  their  oblation  till  the  end  of  the  first  night-watch.  These  are 
the  words  of  Rabbi  Eliezer.  but  the  wise  men  say  until  midnight. 
Rabban  Gamaliel  says  till  the  morning  dawn  ariseth.  It  came  to 
pass  that  his  sons  were  returning  from  a  banquet  ;  they  said  unto 
him,  '  We  have  not  vet  recited  the  Shema.'  He  answered  and  said 
unto  them,  '  If  the  morning  dawn  has  not  yet  arisen,  ye  are  under 
obligation  to  recite  it.'  And  not  this  alone  have  they  said,  but 
everywhere  where  the  wise  have  said  '  until  midnight,'  the  command 
is  binding  till  the  morning  dawn  ariseth  ;  and  the  burning  of  the 
fat  and  of  the  joints  is  lawful  until  the  morning  dawn  ariseth.  and 
so  everything  which  may  be  eaten  on  the  same  day  is  allowed  to  be 
eaten  till  the  rise  of  the  morning  dawn.  If  so,  why  do  the  sages 
say  '  till  midnight  ?  '  In  order  to  keep  a  man  far  from  transgress- 
ing".—Gemara.  The  Tanna  (/.  e..  the  author  of  the  Mishna),  what 
is  his  authority  that  he  teaches,  from  what  time  onward?  And, 
besides  that,  whv  does  he  teach  on  the  evening  first,  and  might  he 
teach  on  the  morning  first  ?  The  Tanna  rests  on  the  Scripture,  for 
it  is  written,  '  When  thou  liest  down  and  when  thou  risest  up,'  and 
so  he  teaches  the  time  of  reciting  the  Shema.  when  thou  best  down, 
when  is  it?  From  the  time  when  the  priests  go  in  to  eat  of  their 
oblation.  But  if  thou  wilt,  say  I.  he  hath  taken  it  out  of  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world,  for  it  is  said',  it  was  t  veiling,  and  it  was  morning 
one  day.  If  this  is  so.  why  does  a  later  Mishna  teach  that  at  dawn 
two  benedictions  are  to  be  said  before  the  Shema.  and  one  after  ; 
and  in  the  evening  two  before  and  two  after  ;and  yet  they  teach  in 
the  evening  first.  The  Tanna  begins  in  the  evening,  then  he 
teaches  in  the  morning  ;  as  he  treats  oi  the  morning  so  he  explains 
the  things  of  the  morning,  and  then  he  explains  the  things  of  the 
evening."— This  is  less  than  one-fourth  part  of  the  comment  in  the 
Gemara.  on  that  passage  in  the  Mishna,  and  the  rest  is  equally  lucid 
and  interesting. 

*   The  well-known  prayer,  beginning  "  Hear,  O  Israel." 


74  THE  TALMUD  ; 

own.  r  The  language  of  the  Talmud  is 
partly  Hebrew  and  partly  Aramaic.  The 
best'Hebrew  of  the  work  is  in  the  text  of  the 
Mishna,  that  in  the  Gemara  being  largely  de- 
based with  exotic  words  of  various  tongues, 
barbarous  spelling,  and  uncouth  grammatical 
or  rather  ungrammatical  forms.  The  same 
remark  will  apply  to  the  Aramaic  portions, 
which  in  general  are  those  containing  popu- 
lar narrative  or  legendary  illustration,  while 
the  law  principles,  and  the  discussions  re- 
lating to  them,  are  embodied  in  Hebrew. 
Many  forms  of  the  Talmudic  dialect,  are  so 
peculiar  as  to  render  a  grammar  adapted  to 
the  work  itself  greatly  to  be  desired.  Ordi- 
nary Hebrew  grammar  will  not  take  a  man 
through  a  page  of  it. 

In  style  the. Mishna  is  remarkable  for  its 
extreme  conciseness, 2  and  the  Gemara  is 
written  upon  the  same  model,  though  not  so 
frequently  obscure.  The  prevailing  princi- 
ple of  the  composition  seems  to  have  been 
the  employment  of  the  fewest  words,  thus 
rendering  the  work  a  constant  brachylogy. 
A  phrase  becomes  the  focus  of  many 
thoughts  ;  a  solitary  word,  an  anagram,  a  ci- 
pher for  a  whole  subject  of  reflection.  To 
employ  an  appropriate  expression  of  De- 
litzschs  :  "  What  Jean  Paul  says  of  the  style 


i.  "Non  vero  sterilis  in  Mishnicam  commentarius  Gemara  est  ; 
quae  Alius  tantum  modo  verba  explicet.  Sed  prolixas  in  earn  in- 
stituit  dzsputationes,  quaestiones  proponendo  et  ad  eos  respon- 
dendo,  dubia  movendo,  eaque  solvendo,  excipiendo  et  replicando," 
VVaehner  Antiqq.  Hebr.  r,  p.  339. 

2.  Waehner,  /.  c.  p. 294  :  "  Nostro  quidem  judicio  vix  quicquam  est, 
quod  in  bene  scripto  libro  laudari  possit,  exquo  Mishnicum  hoc 
opus  commentari  non  mereatur.  Dictio  pura  hebraica  est,  quae 
concisa  brevitate,  pro  istorum  temporum  more,  res  propemodum 
iniinitas  proponit.  Quae  quidem  brevitas  in  causa  est,  ut  a  rerum 
Judaicarum  et  istorum  temporum  styli  rudibus  hoc  liber  non  mtel- 
hgatur.  Sed  imperitis  non  scripsit  R.  Juda  sanctus,  sed  viris  erq- 
ditis,  quos  haec  brevitas  minim  in  modum  deiectat.  Si  qua  alicubi 
esse  videatur  obscuritas, eyanescet,  dummodo  orationis  genus  sibi 
famihare  reddere  lector  laboret.  Tam  accurate  et  cogitate  cuncta 
scripsit,  quamqui  accuratissime.  Vix  ullo  vel  excessu  vel  de/ectu 
liber  laborat,"etc. 

3.  Zur  Geschichtc  der  J  ii  disc  hen  Pocsie,  p.  31. 


WHAT  IT  IS. 


75 


of  Haman,  applies  exactly  to  that  d"f  the  Tal- 
mud :  it  is  a  firmament  of  telescopic  stars, 
containing  many  a  cluster  of  light  which  no 
unaided  eye  has  ever  resolved." 

But  without  regard  to  grammatical  and 
linguistic  difficulties  and  numberless  abbrevi- 
ations which  crowd  the  pages  of  the  Talmud, 
there  are  a  number  of  termini  technici,  which 
were  current  only  in  the  rabbinical  schools, 
but  have  been  incorporated  in  the  Gemara 
like  joints  and  ligaments  in  its  organization, 
so  as  to  make  the  knowledge  of  them  indis- 
pensable to  the  student. 

Since  the  Gemara  is  in  general  only  a  more 
complete  development  of  the  Mishna,  it  fol- 
lows the  same  routine  of  the  six  orders  of 
the  latter,  and  besides  the  primary  elements 
of  the  Mishna,  as  quotations  from  Scripture, 
rules  and  regulations,  ordinances,  prescribed 
customs  and  rites,  the  text  of  the  Mishna  is 
yet  enlarged  by  innumerable  fragments  of 
Toseftoth  or  appendices  to  the  Mishna,  and 
BoraitJioth  or  supplements  to  the  Mishna,  as 
the  books  Sifra,  Sifri  and  Mechilta,  inserted 
here  and  there  throughout  the  entire  frame 
of  the  work.  Besides  these  materials  there 
are  an  endless  variety  of  Haggadoth,  anec- 
dotes and  illustrations,  historical  and  legend- 
ary, poetical  allegories,  charming  parables, 
witty  epithalamiums,  etc.,  the  understanding 
of  which  taxes  the  ingenuity  and  patience  of 
the  Christian  student,  and  we  can  well  appre- 
ciate words  of  the  learned  Dr.  Lightfoot,  when 
he  thus  complains  of  the  authors  of  the  Tal- 
mud :  "  The  almost  unconquerable  difficulty 
of  their  style,  the  frightful  roughness  of  their 
language,  and  the  amazing  emptiness  and 
sophistry  of  the  matters  handled,  do  torture, 
vex,  and  tire  him  that  reads  them.  They  do 
everywhere  abound  with  trifles  in  that  man- 


76  THE  TALMUD; 

ner  as  though  they  had  no  mind  to  be  read  ; 
with  obscurities  and  difficulties  as  though 
they  had  no  mind  to  be  understood  ;  so  that 
the  reader  hath  need  of  patience  all  along  to 
enable  him  to  bear  both  trifling  in  sense  and 
roughness  in  expression." 

Besides  the  materials  mentioned  already, 
there  are  subsidiaries  to  the  Talmud,  printed 
either  in  the  margin  of  the  pages  or  at  the 
end  of  the  treatises,  viz.  I.  the  TosapliotJi,  ex- 
egetical  additions  by  later  authors — which 
must  not  be  confounded  with  the  ToseftotJi ; 
2,  Masorali  ha-shesh  Sedarim^  being  marginal 
Masoretic  indexes  to  the  six  orders  of  the 
Mishna  ;  3,  Am  or  En-Mislipat,  i.  e.,  index  of 
places  on  the  rites  and  institutions  :  4,  Ner 
Mitsvoth,dL  general  index  of  decisions  accord- 
ing to  the  digest  of  Maimonides  ;  and  5,  Per- 
usJiim,  or  commentaries  by  different  authors. 

Besides  the  63  treatises  which  compose  the 
Mishna  and  Gemara,  there  are  certain  minor 
ones  which  are  connected  with  the  Talmud 
as  a  kind  of  Apocrypha  or  appendix,  under 
the  title  of  Mesiktoth  K  'tanoth  or  smaller  trea- 
tises.    These  are : 

1.  SopJierim,  concerning  the  scribe  and 
reader  of  the  law  (21  chapters).  This  treatise 
is  important  for  the  Masorah.  A  separate 
edition  with  notes,  was  published  by  J.  Mid- 
ler (Leipsic,  1878). 

2.  Kallah,  relates  to  marriages  (1  chapter). 

3.  Ebel  Rabbathi,  or  Semachoth,  concerning 
the  ordinances  for  funeral  solemnities  (14 
chapters). 

4.  Derek  Erets,  on  social  duties  (11  chap- 
ters). 

5.  Derek  Erets  Sutta,  rules  for  the  learned 
(10  chapters). 

6.  Perek  ha-Shalom,  on  the  love  of  j^eace 
(1  chapter). 


WIIA  T  IT  IS.  j  j  . 

7.  Gerim,  concerning  proselytes  (4  chap- 
ters). * 

8.  Kuthim,  concerning  Samaritans  (2  chap- 
ters). * 

9.  Abadim,  concerning  slaves  (3  chapters).* 

10.  Tsitsitk,  concerning  fringes  (1  chap- 
ter). * 

11.  Tephillin,  concerning  phylacteries  (1 
chapter).  * 

12.  MezuzaJi,  concerning  the  writing  on 
the  door-post  (2  chapters).  * 

13.  ScpJier  Thorah,  concerning  the  writing 
of  the  law  (5  chapters).  * 

14.  Hilcoth  Erets  Israel,  relating  to  the 
ways  of  slaughtering  animals  for  food  after 
the  Jewish  ideas,  a  treatise  which  is  much 
later  than  the  Talmud. 

15.  A  both  di-Rabbi  Nathan,  a  commentary 
on  or  amplification  of  the  treatise  (21  chap- 
ters), recently  published  with  notes,  etc.,  by 
S.  Schechter,  Vienna,   1887. 

In  order  to  enable  the  student  to  find  at 
once  in  which  of  the  twelve  volumes  of  the 
Babylonian  Talmud  the  different  treatises  of 
the  Mishna  are  treated,  we  subjoin  the  fol- 
lowing table,  giving  in  the  first  column  the 
names  of  the  treatises  in  alphabetical  order ; 
in  the  second  the  volume  of  the  Talmud;  in 
the  third  the  Seder  or  order,  under  which 
they  are  given,  and  in  the  fourth  the  numeri- 
cal order  in  which  they  stand  in  the  Mishna. 

(see  table,  page  78.) 

LITERARY   AND    MORAL    CHARACTER   OF 
THE   BOOK. 

Buxtorf,  the  famous  scholar  in  Rabbinic 
lore,  characterizes  the  Talmud  as  follows : 
"  Sunt  enim  in  Talmude  adhuc  multa  quoque 


*  Published  also  separately  by  R.  Kirchheim  under  the  title  Se/- 
tem  Libri  Talmudici  Parvr,  Frankfort,  1851. 


78 


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WIIA  T  IT  IS. 


79 


Theologica  sana,  quamvis  plurimis  inutilibus 
corticibus,  ut  Majemon  alicubi  loquitur,  in- 
voluta.  Sunt  in  "eo  multa  fida  antiquitatis 
Judaicae  collapsae  veluti  rudera  et  vestigia, 
ad  convincendam  posterorum  Judaeorum  per- 
fidiam,  ad  illustrandam  utriusque  testamenti 
historiam,  ad  recte  explicandos  ritus,  leges, 
consuetudines  populi  Hebraei  prisci,  pluri- 
mum  conducentia.  Sunt  in  eo  multa  Jurid- 
ica,  Medica,  Physica,  Ethica,  Politica,  As- 
tronomica  et  aliarum  scientiarum  praeclara 
documenta,  quae  istius  gentis  et  temporis 
historiam  mirifice  commendant,"  etc.  |  Ac- 
cording to  Buxtorf,  the  Talmud  contains  all 
and  everything,  and  this  we  will  illustrate  by 
the  following  examples  : 

i.God.  "The  day,"  we  are  told,  "contains  twelve 
hours.  The  first  three'  hours,  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be  He, 
sits  and  studies  the  law.  The  second  three  hours,  He  sits 
and  judges  the  whole  world.  The  third  three  hours  He  sits 
and  feeds  all  the  world,  from  the  horns  of  the  unicorns  to  the 
eggs  of  the  vermin.  In  the  fourth  three  hours  He  sits  and 
plays  with  leviathan,  for  it  is  said  (Ps.  civ.,  26)  'The  Levi- 
athan whom  thou  hast  formed  to  play  therewith.'  "—Aboda 
Zarah  (fol.  3,  col.  2). 

Rabbi  Eliezer  says,  "  The  night  has  three  watches,  and 
at  every  watch,  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be  He,  sits  and 
roars  like  a  lion,  for  it  is  said,  'The  Lord  shall  roar  from 
on  high,  and  utter  his  voice  from  his  holy  habitation  : 
roaring  he  shall  roar  upon  his  habitation."'  (Jer.  xxv.,  30). 
Berachoth  fol.  3,  col.  1. 

Rabbi  Isaac,  the  son  of  Samuel,  says,  in  the  name  of 
Rav,  "The  night  has  three  watches,  and  at  every  watch,  the 
Holy  One,  blessed  be  He,  sits  and  roars  like  a  lion,  and 
says,  '  Woe  is  me  that  I  have  laid  desolate  my  house, 
and  burned  my  sanctuary,  and  sent  my  children  into  cap- 
tivity amongst'the  nations  of  the  earth.'  "     {Ibid.). 

God  is  presented  as  praying  (/.  c.  fol.  7,  col.  1),  and 
wearing  phylacteries  (ibtd.).  When  He  weeps  on  account 
of  his  children,  He  lets  two  tears  fall  into  the  Great  Ocean, 
the  noise  of  which  is  heard  from  one  end  of  the  world  to 
the  other,  and  this  is  an  earthquake  [I.e.  fol.  59,  col.  1). 
It  is  further  said  that  He  "braided  the  hair  of  Eve"  (/.  c. 
fol.  61,  col.  1),  and  (i  shaved  the  head  of  Sennacherib." 
iSanhedtin  fol.  96,  col.  1). 

These  are  only  a  very  few  items  ol  the  very  many  examples 


Preface  to  bis  Lexicon  Chald.  et  Talmud. 


50  THE   TALMUD; 

which  could  be  adduced  concerning  the  Deity.  That  these 
stories  are  extravagant,  and  often,  \vheii  taken  literally,  ab- 
surd, no  one  can  deny.  But  they  must  be  merely  regarded 
as  to  their  meaning  and  intention.  Much  has  been  said 
against  the  Talmud  on  account  of  the  preposterous  char- 
acter of  some  of  these  stories.  But  we  should  give  the 
Hebrew  literati  the  benefit  of  their  own  explanations. 
They  tell  us  that  in  the  Talmud  the  Haggadah  has  no  ab- 
solute authority,  nor  any  value  except  in  the  way  of  eluci- 
dation. It  often — but  not  always — enwraps  a  philosophic 
meaning  under  the  veil  of  allegory,  mythic  folk-lore,  ethical 
story,  oriental  romance,  parable,  and  aphorism  and  fable. 
They  deny  that  the  authors  of  these  fancy  pieces  intended 
either  to  add  to  the  law  of  God  or  to  detract  from  it  by 
them,  but  only  to  explain  and  enforce  it  in  terms  best  suited 
to  the  popular  capacity.  They  caution  us  against  receiving 
these  things  according  to  the  letter,  and  admonish  us  to 
understand  them  according  to  their  spiritual  or  moral  im 
port.  "  Beware,"  says  Maimonides,  "  that  you  take  not  the 
words  of  the  wise  men  literally,  for  this  would  be  degrading 
to  the  sacred  doctrine,  and  sometimes  contradict  it.  Seek 
rather  the  hidden  sense,  and  if  you  cannot  find  the  kernel, 
let  the  shell  alone,  and  confess, '  I  cannot  understand  this.'  " 
But  the  impartial  reader  must  at  once  admit  that  these  sug- 
gestions are  merely  the  after-thoughts  of  tender  apologists, 
for  some  of  these  stories,  as  we  shall  see  further  on,  have 
no  hidden  sense  at  all,  but  must  be  taken  literally,  because 
meant  so. 

2.  Astrology.  It  is  surprising  that  men  who  believe  in 
a  divine  revelation,  should  have  so  much  to  say  about  things 
which  savor  of  heathenism,  and  treat  astrology  as  a  science 
which  governs  the  life  of  man.  Thus  we  are  told:  "The 
stars  make  men  wise,  the  stars  make  men  rich."  {Shah- 
bath  fol.  156,  col.  1).  "  A  man  born  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week  will  excel  in  only  one  quality.  He  that  is  born  on 
the  second  day  will  be  an  angry  man,  because  on  that  day 
the  waters  were  divided.  He'that  is  born  on  the  third  day  of 
the  week  will  be  rich  and  licentious,  because  on  it  the  herbs 
were  created.  He  that  is  born  on  the  fourth  day  will  be 
wise  and  of  good  memory,  because  on  that  day  the  lights 
were  hung  up.  He  that  is  born  on  the  fifth  day  will  be 
charitable,  because  on  that  day  the  fishes  and  fowls  were 
created.  He  that  is  born  on  the  Sabbath,  on  the  Sabbath 
he  shall  also  die,  because  on  his  account  they  profaned  the 
great  Sabbath  day."  Rabba  bar  Shila  says  :  "He  shall  be 
eminently  holy."  (ibid).  Rabbi  llaninasays:  "  The  influence 
of  the  stars  makes  wise,  the  influence  of  the  stars  makes 
rich,  and  Israel  is  under  the  influence  of  the  stars."  Rabbi 
Jochanan  says  :  "Israel  is  not  under  the  influence  of  the 
stars.  Whence  is  it  proved?  'Tims  saith the  Lord,  Learn 
not  the  way  of  the  heathen,  and  be  not  dismayed  at  the 
signs  of  heaven,  for  the  heathen  are  dismayed  at  them.' 
(Jer  x..  2).  The  heathen,  but  not  Israel"  [ibid.).  Astfol 
ogy  naturally  leads  to  amulets  and  (harms. 

3.  Amulets.     Amulets    are  divided  into  two  classes,  ap 


WIIA  T  IT  IS,  8 1 

proved  and  disapproved.  "  What  is  an  approved  amulet?" 
Any  amulet  that  has  effected  a  cure,  and  done  so  twice  or 
thrice,"  {ibid.  fol.  6r,  col.  i). 

4.  Charms.  "  For  the  bleeding  of  the  nose,  let  a  man  be 
brought  who  is  a  priest,  and  whose  name  is  Levi,  and  let 
him  write  the  word  Levi  backwards.  If  this  cannot  be 
done,  get  a  layman,  and  let  him  write  the  following  words 
backwards  :  '  Ana  pipi  Shila  bar  Sumki ;  '  or  let  him  write 
these  words :  '  Taam  dli  bemi  Keseph,  taam  li  bemi 
paggan.'  Or  let  him  take  a  root  of  grass,  and  the  cord  of 
an  old  bed,  and  paper  and  saffron  and  the  red  part  of  the 
inside  of  a  palm-tree,  and  let  him  burn  them  together,  and 
let  him  take  some  wool  and  twist  two  threads,  and  let  him 
dip  them  in  vinegar,  and  then  roll  them  in  the  ashes  and 
put  them  into  his  nose.  Or  let  him  look  out  for  a  small 
stream  of  water  that  flows  from  east  to  west,  and  let  him 
go  and  stand  with  one  leg  on  each  side  of  it,  and  let  him 
take  with  his  right  hand  some  mud  from  under  his  left  foot, 
and  with  his  left  hand  from  under  his  right  foot,  and  let 
him  twist  two  threads  of  wool,  and  dip  them  in  the  mud, 
and  put  them  into  his  nostrils.  Or  let  him  be  placed  under 
a  spout,  and  let  water  be  brought  and  poured  upon  him, 
and  let  them  say,  *  As  this  water  ceases  to  flow,  so  let  the 
blood  of  M,  the  son  of  the  woman  N,  also  cease.'" 
{Gittin  fol.  69,  col.  1).  A  commentary  on  this  wisdom  or 
folly  is  superfluous.  That  this  direction  to  stop  a  bleed- 
ing at  the  nose  is  not  a  rare  case  in  the  Talmud,  the  follow- 
ing mode  of  treatment  for  the  bite  of  a  mad  dog  will  prove. 
If  a  man  be  bitten  by  a  mad  dog  he  must  die  ;  what,  then,  is 
the  remedy  ?  "  Abai  says  he  must  take  the  skin  of  a 
male  adder  and  write  upon  it  these  words :  '  I,  M,  the  son 
of  the  woman  N,  upon  the  skin  of  a  male  adder,  write 
against  thee,  Kanti  Kanti  Klirus,  but  some  sav,  Kandi 
Kandi  Klurus,  Lord  of  Hosts,  Amen.  Selah!'  Let  him 
also  cast  off  his  clothes  and  bury  them  in  a  graveyard  for 
twelve  months  of  a  year  ;  then  let  him  take  them' up,  and 
burn  them  in  a  furnace,  and  let  him  strew  the  ashes  at  the 
parting  of  the  roads,  and  during  these  twelve  months  let 
him  only  drink  out  of  a  brass  tube,  lest  he  see  the  phantom 
form  of  the  demon,  and  he  be  endangered.  This  was  done 
by  Abba,  the  son  of  Martha,  who  is  the  same  as  Abba,  the 
son  of  Maujumi.  His  mother  made  a  golden  tube  for 
him."     {Voma  fo\.  83,  col.  1). 

Demons.  Abba  Benjamin  says,  "If  leave  had  been 
given  to  see  the  hurtful  demons,' no  creature  could  stand 
before  them."  Abbai  says,  "  They  are  more  than  we  are, 
and  stand  against  us,  like 'the  trench  round  a  garden  bed." 
Rav  Huna  says,  "  Everyone  has  a  thousand  on  his  left 
hand,  and  ten  thousand  on  his  right  hand."  Kabba  says, 
"The  want  of  room  at  the  sermon  is  from  them,  the  wearing 
out  of  the  Rabbi's  clothes  is  from  their  rubbing  against 
them,  bruised  legs  are  from  them."  "Whosoever  wishes 
to  know  their  existence,  let  him  take  ashes  passed  through 
a  sieve,  and  strew  them  in  his  bed,  and  in  the  morning  he 
will  see  the  marks  of  a  cock's  claws.  Whosoever  wishes 
6 


82 


THE   TALMUD; 


to  see  them  let  him  take  the  interior  covering  of  a  black-cat, 
the  kitten  of  a  first-born  black  cat,  which  is  also  the  kitten  of 
a  first-born,  and  let  him  burn  it  in  the  fire,  and  powder  it, 
and  fill  his  eyes  with  it,  and  he  will  see  them.  But  let  him 
pour  the  powder  into  an  iron  tube,  and  seal  it  with  an  iron 
signet,  lest  they  should  steal  any  of  it,  and  let  him  also  seal 
up  the  mouth  thereof,  lest  any  'harm  ensue.  Rav  Bibi  bar 
Abbai  did  thus,  and  he  was  harmed,  but  the  rabbis  prayed 
for  mercy,  and  he  was  healed."   {Berachoth  fob  6,  col.  I.) 

We  could  fill  pages  by  reciting  pretty  stories  about 
Adam,  Solomon,  the  worm  shamir,  the  fabulous  river 
Sambation,  Lihth,  Titus,  Leviathan,  etc.,  but  sapienti  sat. 

In  the  face  of  such  extravagancies,  we  are  not  surprised 
at  the  following  statement  made  by  a  modern  Jewish  writer, 
the  late  H.  Hurwitz,  in  an  essay  preceding  his  Hebrew 
Tales  (London,  1826),  p.  34  sq.: 

"The  Talmud  contains  many  things  which  every  enlight- 
ened Jew  must  sincerely  wish  had  either  never  appeared 
there,  or  should,  at  least,  long  ago  have  been  expunged 
from  its  pages.  Some  of  these  stories  are  objectionable 
per  se.,  others  are,  indeed,  susceptible  of  explanations,  but 
without  them  are  calculated  to  produce  false  and  erroneous 
impressions. 

"  Of  the  former  description  are  all  those  extravagancies  re- 
lating to  the  extent  of  Paradise,  the  dimensions  of  Gehi- 
nom,  the  size  of  Leviathan,  and  the  SJior  Habar,  the  freaks 
of  Askmadai,  etc.,  etc.,— idle  tales,  borrowed  most  probably 
from  the  Parthians  and  Arabians,  to  whom  the  Jews  were 
subject  before  the  promulgation  of  the  Talmud.  These 
absurdities  are  as  foreign  to  genuine  religion  as  they  are 
repugnant  to  common  sense. 

"How  those  objectionable  passages  came  at 
all  to  be  inserted,  can  only  be  accounted  for 
from  that  great  reverence  with  which  the 
Israelities  of  those  days  used  to  regard  their 
wise  men  :  and  which  made  them  look  upon 
every  word  and  expression  that  dropped 
from  the  mouth  of  their  instructors  as  so 
many  precious  sayings,  well  worthy  of  being 
preserved.  These  they  wrote  down  for  their 
own  private  information,  together  with  more 
important  matters.  And  when,  in  after- 
times,  those  writings  were  collected,  in  order 
to  be  embodied  in  one  entire  work,  the  col- 
lectors, either  from  want  of  proper  discrimi- 
nation, or  from  some  pious  motive,  suffered 
them  to  remain  ;  and  thus  they  were  handed 
down  to  posterity.     That   the  wiser  portion 


YVHA  T  IT  TS. 


83 


of  the  nation  never  approved  of  them  is  well 
known.  Nay,  that  some  of  the  Talmudists 
themselves  regard  them  with  no  very  favor- 
able eye,  is  plain,  from  the  bitter  terms  in 
which  they  exclaimed  against  them. 

"  I  admit  also  that  there  are  many  and  va- 
rious contradictions  in  the  Talmud,  and,  in- 
deed, it  would  be  a  miracle  were  there  none. 
For  let  it  be  recollected  that  this  work  con- 
tains, not  the  opinions  of  only  a  few  individ- 
uals living  in  the  same  society,  under  pre- 
cisely similar  circumstances,  but  of  hundreds, 
nay,  I  might  without  exaggeration  say,  of 
thousands  of  learned  men,  of  various  talents, 
living  in  a  long  series  of  ages,  in  different 
countries,  and  under  the  most  diversified 
conditions. 

"  To  believe  that  its  multifarious  contents 
are  all  dictates  of  unerring  wisdom,  is  as  ex- 
travagant as  to  suppose  that  all  it  contains 
is  founded  in  error.  Like  all  other  produc- 
tions of  unaided  humanity,  it  is  not  free 
from  mistakes  and  prejudices,  to  remind  us 
that  the  writers  were  fallible  men,  and  that 
unqualified  admiration  must  be  reserved  for 
the  works  of  divine  inspiration,  which  we 
ought  to  study,  the  better  to  adore  and  obey 
the  all-perfect  Author.  But  while  I  should 
be  among  the  first  to  protest  against  any 
confusion  of  the  Talmudic  Rills  with  the 
ever-flowing  Stream  of  Holy  Writ,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  avow  my  doubts,  whether  there 
exists  any  uninspired  work  of  equal  an- 
tiquity, that  contains  more  interesting,  more 
various,  and  valuable  information  than  that 
of  the  still  existing  remains  of  the  ancient 
Hebrew  Sages." 

But  while  we  admire  the  candor  of  this 
Jewish  writer,  we  must  confess  that  not  all 
of  his  co-religionists  act  on  the  same  princi- 
ple, as  the  sequel   will   prove.     Forty  years 


S^  THE  TALMUD; 

after  Mr.  Hurwitz  bad  published  his  Hebrew 
Talcs,  an  article  appeared  in  the  Qtiartcrly 
Review  for  October,  1867,  with  the  heading 
"  What  is  the  Talmud  ?  "  Such  a  panegyric 
the  Talmud  most  likely  never  had.  Super- 
ficial as  this  article  was,1  yet  its  brilliant 
style  created  quite  a  sensation,  and  the  more 
so  because  it  contained  sentences  which  could 
not  have  emanated  from  a  Jew.  But  the 
writer  was  a  Jew,  the  late  E.  Deutsch,  and 
what  Isaac  said  to  Jacob,  "  The  voice  is 
Jacob's  voice,  but  the  hands  are  the  hands 
of  Esau,"  must  be  applied  to  the  author  of 
"  What  is  the  Talmud?"  We  cannot  pass 
over  this  article  by  merely  alluding  to  it  ;  it 
deserves  our  full  attention  on  account  of 
the  mischief  it  had  already  wrought,  and 
must  work,  in  the  minds  of  those  who  are 
not  able  to  correct  the  erroneous  statements 
contained  in  it. 

The  writer  accuses  [p.  4  of  the  American 
reprint,  contained  in  the  Literary  Remains 
(N.  Y.,  1874)]  the  investigators  of  the  Talmud 
of  mistaking  the  grimy  stone  caricatures 
o.ver  our  cathedrals  for  the  gleaming  statues 
of  the  saints  within.  But  entering  into  the 
cathedrals  of  the  Talmud  and  beholding 
these  saints,  we  are  told  by  Rabbi  Ilai,  the 
elder  :  when  men  wish  to  sin  let  them  go 
to  a  place  where  they  are  unknown,  and 
clothe  themselves  in  black  so  as  not  to  dis- 


1.  A  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  (July,  1873)  says  :  "  But  br^_ 
liant  as  that  essay  was.  it  was  superficial.  It  gave,  we  think,  a 
very  partial  view  of  what  the  Talmud  really  is,  and  it  did  scant 
justice  to  manv  considerable  laborers  in  the  same  field  of  inquiry. 
Mr.  Deutsch  spoke  as  if  nobody,  before  himself,  had  written  any- 
thing intelligible  on  the  subject."  Mr.  Fa'rrar,  speaking  of  works 
on  the  Talmud  in  Latin  and  German,  which  never  entered  into 
general  literature,  says,  "  Had  it  been  otherwise,  the  mass  ot  Eng- 
lish leaders  would  never  have  been  prepared  to  accept  the  utterly 
untenable  notions  about  the  Talmud,  and  the  glowing  wisdom  and 
exquisite  morality  by  which  it  was  supposed  to  be  pervaded,  into 
which  they  were  betrayed  by  the  learned  enthusiasm  ol  the  late 
Dr.  Deutsch  in  his  article  on  the  Talmud  "  (Preface  to  Hershon's 
Tn  'inudic  Miscellany). 


WHAT  IT  IS. 


85 


honor  God  openly  {Mocd  Katon  fol.  17,  col.  1  ; 
Hagiga  fol.  16,  col.  1  ;  Kiddiisliim  fol.  40,  col. 
1).  Of  the  chastity  of  Rabbi  Eliezer  ben 
Dordai  we  get  an  idea  when  we  hear  that 
there  was  not  a  bad  woman  in  the  world, 
whom  he  did  not  go  to  see  "  {Aboda  ZaraJi 
fol.  17,  col.  1  J).  Of  Rabbi  Abbuha  we  read 
that  he  was  such  a  strong  eater  that  a  fly 
could  not  rest  upon  his  forehead  (Bcradioth 
fol.  44,  col.  1) ;  and  of  Rabbi  Ame  and  Rabbi 
Asse  that  they  ate  so  much  that  the  hair 
fell  from  their  heads,  and  of  Rabbi  Simeon, 
the  son  of  Lakesh,  that  he  ate  so  much  that 
he  lost  his  senses  {ibid.),  of  Rabbi  Ismael  and 
Rabbi   Eleazar  we  read    that    they  were  so 


1.  These  instances  were  not  the  exception.  For  says  the  writer 
in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  already  quoted  :  "  On  no  subject  are  the 
doctors  of  the  Talmud  so  prone  to  dilate  as  on  that  of  the  relation 
between  the  sexes.  The  third  of  the  six  orders  of  the  Talmud, 
consisting  of  seven  tracts,  is  entirely  occupied  with  the  subject  of 
the  rights  and  duties  of  women,  and  of  men  in  relation  to  women. 
But  in  addition  to  this,  questions  of  the  same  nature  are  continually 
springing  forth  from  the  ambush  in  the  Gemara.  It  is  very  diffi- 
cult, however,  to  convey  to  the  English  reader  in  appropriate 
language  the  mode  in  which  that  subject  is  approached  by  the 
Jewish  doctors  of  the  law.  Delicacy,  according  to  our  ideas,  is  to 
them  a  thing  utterly  unknown.  For  modesty  they  have  neither 
name  nor  place.  Chastity,  as  exalted  into  a  virtue  by  the  Roman 
Church,  is  esteemed  by  the  Halaca  to  be  violation  of  a  distinct 
command  of  the  written  Law.  Virginity  after  mature  years  is  a 
stigma  if  not  a  sin.  With  the  exception  of  the  prohibition  of 
marriage  within  certain  close  limits  of  consanguinity,  which  do 
not  forbid  a  man  to  take  to  wife  the  daughter  of  his  brother  or 
sister,  almost  the  sole  duty  as  to  marital  relations  enforced  by  the 
Talmud  is  the  fidelity  of  a  wife  to  her  husband  during  the  exist- 
ence of  the  technical  marriage  tie.  The  number  of  wives  legal 
seems  to  have  been  limited  only  by  the  wealth  of  the  husband  ; 
the  rights  of  contemporary  wives  up  to  the  number  of  four  being 
severally  discussed  in  the  tract  Kedurhin."  How  loose  the  mar- 
riage-tie was  regarded  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  the  school 
of  Hillel  allowed  the  divorce  of  a  wife  if  she  over-salted  or  over 
roasted  her  husband's  dinner  ;  and  Aqiba  allowed  it  in  the  case  of 
a  man  finding  a  woman  fairer  in  his  eyes  than  his  wife.  "  In  a 
word,"  says  a  writer  in  the  Cornhill  Magazine,  "  the  opinions  of 
the  majority  of  the  Rabbis  concerning  marriage  seem  to  have  been 
as  free  as  those  celebrated  ones  of  Cato,  whose  friendship  for 
Hortensius  extended  usque  ad  aras,  and  a  little  beyond."  It  will 
therefore  not  be  surprising  to  know  that  the  doctors  of  the  Talmud 
had  a  very  low  opinion  of  the  female  sex.  They  put  them  in  the 
category  with  slaves  and  children.  Women  were  not  to  be  instruct- 
ed in  the  law,  for  "  you  shall  teach  the  law  to  your  sons"  and  not 
to  your  daughter-,.  "  He  who  teaches  his  daughter  the  law  is  like 
as  if  he  teaches  her  to  sin."  '•The  mind  oi  woman  is  weak." 
"The  world  cannot  exist  without  males  and  females,  but  blessed  is 
lie  whose  children  are  sons:  woe  to  him  whose  children  are  daugh- 
ters. In  the  morning  prayer  the  husband  and  son  thanks  God 
"that  he  hath  not  made  him  a  woman." 


g(3  THE  TALMUD; 

corpulent  that  when  they  stood  face  to  face 
a  pair  of  oxen  could  pass  under  them  with- 
out touching  them  {Baba  Metsia  fol.  84,  col. 
I).  The  Jews,  we  read,  are  directed  to  get 
so  drunk  on  the  Feast  of  Purim  that  they 
cannot  discern  the  difference  between 
"  Blessed  be  Mordecai  and  cursed  be 
Hainan,"  and  "  Cursed  be  Mordecai  and 
blessed  be  Haman."  And  as  an  illustration 
we  read  :  Rabba  and  Rabbi  Zira  made  their 
Purim  entertainment  together.  When  Rabba 
got  drunk,  he  arose  and  killed  Rabbi  Zira. 
On  the  following  day  he  prayed  for  mercy, 
and  restored  him  to  life.  The  following 
year  Rabba  proposed  to  him  again  to  make 
their  Purim  entertainment  together  ;  but  he 
answered,  "  Miracles  don't  happen  every 
day."  {Megilla  fol.  7,  col.  2).  Of  the  honesty 
of  Rabbi  Samuel  and  Rabbi  Cahana  we  read 
a  nice  story  in  Baba  Kamma{io\.  113,  col.  2), 
which  we  had  better  pass  over,  for  enough 
has  been  said  of  some  of  the  Talmudical 
saints. 

The  writer  in  the  Quarterly,  though  he 
admits  (p.  12)  that  the  Talmud  contains 
"  gross  offences  against  modern  taste  "  yet 
endeavors  at  the  same  time  to  apologize  for 
those  parts  by  telling  that,  when  compared 
with  other  ancient  systems  of  jurisprudence," 
"  the  Talmud  will  then  stand  out  rather 
favorably  than  otherwise."  It  is  not  nec- 
essary to  say  much  on  this  painful  and  dis- 
gusting part  of  the  subject  ;  but  we  will  say 
this,  that  it  is  one  thing  to  point  to  the  exist- 
ence of  mire,  that  we  may  warn  the  un- 
wary, and  another  to  wallow  with  delight  in 
it.  We  heartily  wish  that  some  of  the 
rabbis  who  wrote  the  Talmud  had  been  con- 
tent with  discharging  that  which  may  be 
considered  a  duty,  and  not  laid  themselves 
open   to   the   charge  justly   brought   against 


WHAT  IT  IS.  g; 

them,  of  doing  injury  to  the  morals  and 
minds  of  those  who  study  their,  writings,  by 
their  unnecessary  and  improper  statements 
and  details,  of  which  the  treatise  Nidda, 
which  we  have  here  especially  in  view,  and 
which  treats  of  the  "menstruating  woman" 
is  so  full.  When  in  1843,  Messrs.  De  Sola 
and  Raphall  published  a  translation  of  a 
portion  of  the  Mishna,  they  excused  the 
omission  of  this  treatise  by  saying,  in  the 
preface  to  their  work,  "  The  treatise  Nidda 
not  being  suited  to  the  refined  notions  of 
the  English  reader,  has  not  been  printed." 
They  did  well  and  wisely  to  omit  it  in  the 
list  of  portions  selected  for  translation  ;  and 
says  the  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  : 
"  Niddah  should  be  read  only  by  persons 
bound  to  study  medicine,  being  devoted  to 
certain  rules  not  ordinarily  discussed  ;  al- 
though they  appear  to  have  occupied  a  dis- 
proportionate part  of  the  attention  of  the  rab- 
bins. The  objections  that  our  modern  sense 
of  propriety  raises  to  the  practice  of  the 
confessional  apply  with  no  less  force  to  the 
subject  of  this  tract,  considered  as  a  matter 
to  be  regulated  by  the  priesthood." 

Considering  the  very  many  bad  features 
of  the  Talmud,  which  include  also  offensive 
passages, — we  must  not  be  astonished  at  the 
fact  that  the  Talmud  has  so  often  been 
burned.  But  in  this  respect  the  Talmud 
has  only  reaped  what  it  has  sowed.  It  was 
the  Talmud  which  taught  that  in  case  of 
a  fire  breaking  out  on  the  Sabbath,  the  gos^ 
pels  should  not  be  rescued.  The  Talmud 
is  not  the  only  work  which  has  been  burned. 
The  Bible  has  been  burned.  Why  should 
the  Talmud  have  escaped?  Besides,  igno- 
rance and  fanaticism,  in  all  ages  and  coun- 
tries, have  burned  the  books  which  they 
supposed  were  against  their  system.      This 


gg  THE   TALMUD; 

was  especially  the  case  with  the  Talmud, 
A.i>.  1240,  when  a  conference  was  held  at 
Paris  between  Nicolaus  Donin  and  some 
Jewish  rabbis  concerning  certain  blasphemies 
contained  in  the  Talmud  and  written 
against  Jesus  and  Mary.  Rabbi  Jechiel,  the 
most  prominent  of  the  Jewish  rabbis  at  that 
conference,  would  not  admit  that  the  Jesus 
spoken  of  in  the  Talmud  was  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  but  another  Jesus,  a  discovery 
which  was  copied  by  later  writers.  But 
modern  Jews  acknowledge  the  failure  of  this 
argument,  for,  says  Dr.  Levin,  in  his  prize 
essay :  "  we  must  regard  the  attempt  of 
R.  Jechiel  to  ascertain  that  there  were  two 
by  the  name  of  Jesus  as  unfortunate,  origi- 
nal as  the  idea  may  be."  J  The  result  of 
his  conference  was  that  the  Talmud  in- 
wagon-loads  was  burned  at  Paris  in  1242. 
This  was  the  first  attack.  In  our  days,  such 
accusations  against  the  Talmud  as  that  pro- 
fessed by  Donin  were  impossible,  because 
all  these  offensive  passages  have  been  re- 
moved— not  so  much  by  the  hands  of  the 
censor,  as  by  the  Jews  themselves,  as  the 
following  document  or  circular  letter,  ad- 
dressed by  a  council  of  elders,  convened  in 
Poland  in  the  Jewish  year  5391  (i.e.,  A.D. 
1 631),  to  their  co-religionists,  which  at  the 
same  time  contains  the  clew  why  in  later 
editions  of  the  Talmud  certain  passages  are 
wanting,  will  show.  The  circular  runs  thus 
in  the  translation  of  Ch.  Leslie  :  2  "  Great 
peace  to  our  beloved  brethren  of  the  house 
of  Israel. — Having  received  information  that 
many  Christians  have  applied  themselves 
with  great  care  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of 


1.  Die  Religions  Disputation  des  R.  Jechiel  von  Paris,  etc.,  pub- 
lished in  Graetz's  .Uouatss-hrijt,  i860,  p.  193. 

2.  A  Short  and  Easy  Method  with  the  Jews,    p.    2,  sea.  (London, 
1812),  where  the  original  Hebrew  is  also  found. 


IVIIA  T  IT  IS. 


«9 


the  language  in  which  our  books  arc  written, 
we  therefore  enjoin  you,  under  the  penalty 
of  the  great  ban  (to  be  inflicted  upon  such 
of  you  as  shall  transgress  this  our  statute), 
that  you  do  not  in  any  new  edition  either  of 
the  Mishna  or  Gemara,  publish  anything 
relative  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ;  and  you 
take  special  care  not  to  write  anything  con- 
cerning him ;  either  good  or  bad,  so  that 
neither  ourselves  nor  our  religion  may  be 
exposed  to  any  injury.  For  we  know  what 
those  men  of  Belial,  the  mumrim,  have  done 
to  us,  when  they  became  Christians,  and 
how  their  representations  against  us  have 
obtained  credit.  Therefore,  let  this  make 
you  cautious.  If  you  should  not  pay  strict 
attention  to  this  our  letter,  but  act  contrary 
thereto,  and  continue  to  publish  our  books 
in  the  same  manner  as  before,  you  may  oc- 
easion,  both  to  us  and  yourselves,  greater 
afflictions  than  we  have  hitherto  experi- 
enced, and  be  the  means  of  our  being  com- 
pelled to  embrace  the  Christian  religion,  as 
we  were  formerly  ;  and  thus  our  latter 
troubles  might  be  worse  than  the  former. 
For  these  reasons  we  command  you  that,  if 
you  publish  any  new  edition  of  those  books, 
let  the  places  relating  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
be  left  in  blank,  and  fill  up  the  space  with  a 
circle  like  this  O-  But  the  rabbins  and  teach- 
ers of  children  will  know  how  to  instruct  the 
youth  by  word  of  mouth.  Then  Christians 
will  no  longer  have  anything  to  show  against 
us  upon  this  subject,  and  we  may  expect 
deliverance  from  the  afflictions  we  have 
formerly  labored  under,  and  reasonably  hope 
to  live  in  peace." 

That  the  Talmud  also  contains  a  great 
many  beautiful  maxims,  good  sayings,  fine 
prayers,  etc.,  no  one  can  deny;  it  would  be 
strange,  indeed,   if    the    2947   pages    should 


gQ  THE   TALMUD; 

contain  nothing  but  nonsense.  But  unless 
the  whole  work  be  translated,  it  will  never 
be  known  what  the  Talmud  really  is.  For 
says  the  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  : 

"  It  has  proved  a  grateful  and  not  unrewarded  task  to 
wander  through  the  mazes  of  the  Talmud,  and  to  cull  flow- 
ers yet  sparkling  with  the  very  dew  of  Eden.  Figures  in 
shining  garments  haunt  its  recesses.  Prayers  of  deep 
devotion,  sublime  confidence,  and  noble  benediction,  echo 
in  its  ancient  tongue.  Sentiments  of  lofty  courage,  of  high 
resolve,  of  infantile  tenderness,  of  far-seeing  prudence,  fall 
from  the  lips  of  venerable  sages.  Fairv  tales,  for  Sunday 
evenings'  recital,  go  back  to  early  days  when  there  were 
giants  in  the  land  ;  or  those,  yet  earlier,  when,  as  Josephus 
tells  us,  man  had  a  common  language  with  the  animals. 
Mr.  Darwin  might  write  a  new  book  illustrative  of  a  pre- 
historic common  ancestry,  from  the  fables  of  Syria,  India, 
and  Greece,  that  tell  of  animal  wisdom.  From  the  glorious 
liturgy  of  the  Temple,  Rome  and  her  daughters  have  stolen 
almost  all  that  is  sublime  in  their  own,  with  the  one  excep- 
tion of  the  hymn  of  St.  Ambrose,  itself  formed  on  a  Jewish 
model.  Page  after  page  might  be  filled  with  such  language 
and  such  thought  as  does  not  flow  from  modern  pens. 
Yet  the  possessor  of  these  inviting  spoils  would  know  but 
little  of  the  real  character  of  the  Talmud. 

"  No  less  practicable  would  it  be  to  stray  with  an  opposite 
intention,  and  to  extract  venom,  instead  of  honey,  from  the 
flowers  that  seem  to  spring  up  in  self-sown  profusion. 
Fierce,  intolerant,  vindictive  hatred  for  mankind,  with 
small  exception — confined  in  some  cases  to  the  singular 
number ;  idle  subtlety,  frittering  away  at  once  the  energy 
of  the  human  intellect  and  the  dignity  of  the  divine  law  ; 
pride  and  self-conceit  amounting  to  insanity  ;  adulation  that 
hails  a  man  covered  with  the  rags  of  a  beggar  as  saint  and 
prince,  and  king;  indelicacy  pushed  to  a  grossness  that 
renders  what  it  calls  virtue  more  hateful  than  the  vice  of 
more  modest  people  ;  all  those  might  be  strung  together  in 
one  black  paternoster,  and  yet  they  would  give  no  more 
just  an  idea  of  the  Talmud  than  would  the  chaplets  of  its 
lovelier  flowers.     For  both  are  there,  and  more." 

But  "What  is  the  Talmud?"  In  answer 
to  this  question  we  will  subjoin  some  of  the 
opinions  on  the  Talmud  by  different  authors. 
Thus  B.  Disraeli  in  his  Genius  of  Judaism  (p. 
88)  says : 

"  The  Mishna,  at  first  considered  as  the  perfection  of 
human  skill  and  industry,  at  length  was  discovered  to  be 
a  vast  indigested  heap  of  contradictory  decisions.  It  was 
a  supplement  to  the  law  of  Moses,  which  itself  required 


W1IA  T  IT  IS. 


9* 


a  supplement.  Composed  in  curt,  unconnected  sentences, 
such  as  would  occur  in  conversation  designed  to  be  got  by 
rote  by  the  students  from  the  lips  of  their  oracles,  the 
whole  was  at  length  declared  not  to  be  even  intelligible, 
and  served  only  to  perplex  or  terrify  the  scrupulous  He- 
brew. Such  is  the  nature  of  '  traditions,'  when  they  are 
fairly  brought  together  and  submitted  to  the  eye. 

"The  Mishna  now  only  served  as  a  text  (the  law  of 
Moses  being  slightly  regarded)  to  call  forth  interminable 
expositions.  The  very  sons  of  the  founder  of  the  Mishna 
set  the  example  by  pretending  that  they  understood  what 
their  father  meant  The  work  once  begun,  it  was  found 
difficult  to  get  rid  of  the  workmen.  The  sons  of  '  the  Holy  ' 
were  succeeded  by  a  long  line  of  other  rulers  of  their  divin- 
ity schools  under  the  title,  aptly  descriptive,  of  the  Amor- 
aim,  or  dictators.  These  were  the  founders  of  the  new 
despotism ;  afterwards,  wanderers  in  the  labyrinth  they 
had  themselves  constructed,  roved  the  Scburaim.  or  opin- 
ionists,  no  longer  dictating  but  inferring  opinions  by  keen 
disputations.  As  in  the  decline  of  empire  mere  florid 
titles  delight,  rose  the  Geonim,  or  sublime  doctors;  till  at 
length,  in"  the  dissolution  of  this  dynasty  of  theologians, 
they  sunk  into  the  familiar  titular  honor  of  Rabbi,  or 
master  ! 

"  The  Jews  had  incurred  the  solemn  reproach  in  the  clays 
of  Jesus,  of  having  annihilated  the  word  of  God  by  the  load 
of  their  traditions.  The  calamity  became  more  fearful 
when,  two  centuries  after,  they  received  the  fatal  gift  of 
their  collected  traditions  ca\\t<\  Mishna,  and  still  more  fatal 
when,  in  the  lapse  of  the  three  subsequent  centuries,  the 
epoch  of  the  final  compilation,  was  produced  the  commen- 
tary graced  with  the  title  of  the  Gemara,  completeness  or 
perfection.  It  was  imagined  that  the  human  intellect  had 
here  touched  its  meridian.  The  national  mind  was  com- 
pletely rabbinised.  It  became  uniform,  stable,  and  pecul- 
iar. The  Talmud,  or  the  Doctrinal,  as  the  whole  is  called, 
was  the  labor  of  nearly  500  years. 

"  Here,  then,  we  find  a  prodigious  mass  of  contra- 
dictory opinions,  an  infinite  number  of  casuistical  cases, 
a  logic  of  scholastic  theology,  some  recondite  wisdom, 
and  much  rambling  dotage ;  many  puerile  tales  and 
oriental  fancies;  ethics  and  sophisms,  reasonings  and 
unreasonings,  subtle  solutions,  and  maxims  and  riddles: 
nothing  in  human  life  seems  to  have  happened  which 
these  doctors  have  not  perplexed  or  provided  against, 
for  their  observations  are  as  minute  as  Swift  exhausted  in 
his  'Directions  to  Servants.'  The  children  of  Israel, 
always  children,  were  delighted  as  their  Talmud  increased 
its  volume,  and  their  hardships.  The  Gemara  was  a  third 
law  to  elucidate  the  Mishna,  which  was  a  second  law,  and 
which  had  thrown  the  first  law,  the  law  of  Moses,  into 
obscurity." 


g2  THE   TALMUD; 

Dr.  Isaac  Da  Costa,  in  his  Israel  and  the 
Gentiles  (New  York,  1855,  p.  116),  says: 

"  The  Talmud  is  a  most  curious  monument,  raised  with 
astonishing  labor,  yet  made  up  of  puerilities.  Like  the 
present  position  of  the  Jew,  away  from  his  country,  far 
from  his  Messiah,  and  in  disobedience  to  his  God,  the  Tal- 
mud itself  is  a  chaos  in  which  the  most  opposite  elements 
are  found  in  juxtaposition.  It  is  a  book  which  seems  in 
some  parts  entirely  devoid  of  common  sense,  and  in  others 
filled  with  deep  meaning,  abounding  with  absurd  subtleties 
and  legalJfrieH*,  full  of  foolish  tales  and  wild  imaginations; 
but  also  containing  aphorisms  and  parables  which,  ex- 
cept in  their  lack  of  the  simple  and  sublime  character  of 
the  Holy  Writ,  resemble  in  a  degree  the  parables  and  sen- 
tences of  the  New  Testament.  The  Talmud  is  an  immense 
heap  of  rubbish,  at  the  bottom  of  which  a  few  bright  pearls 
of  Eastern  wisdom  are  to  be  found.  No  book  has  ever  ex- 
pressed more  faithfully  the  spirit  of  its  authors.  This  we 
notice  the  more  when  comparing  the  Talmud  with  the 
Bible— the  Bible,  that  Book  of  books,  given  to,  and  by 
means  of,  the  Israel  of  God  ;  the  Talmud,  the  book  com 
posed  by  Israel  without  their  God,  in  the  time  of  their  dis- 
persion/ their  misery,  and  their  degeneracy." 

Dr.  Milman,  in  his  History  of  the  Jeivs 
(III.  13),  says: 

"  The  reader,  at  each  successive  extract  from  this  extra- 
ordinarv  compilation  [i.e.,  the  Talmud),  hesitates  whether 
to  admire  the  vein  of  profound  allegorical  truth  and  the 
pleasing  moral  apologue,  to  smile  at  the  monstrous  extrav- 
agance, or  to  shudder"  at  the  daring  blasphemy.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  Talmud  on  European  superstitions,  opinions, 
and  even  literature  remains  to  be  traced.  To  the  Jew  the 
Talmud  became  the  magic  circle  within  which  the  national 
mind  patiently  labored  for  ages  in  performing  the  bidding 
of  the  ancient' and  mighty  enchanters,  who  drew  the  sacred 
line  beyond  which  it  might  not  venture  to  pass." 

Dr.  Farrar,  in  his  Life  of  Christ  (II.  485), 
says  : 

"  Anything  more  utterly  unhistorical  than  the  Talmud 
cannot 'be  conceived.  It  is  probable  that  no  human  writ- 
ings evei  confounded  nanus,  dates,  and  tacts  with  a  more 
absolute  indifference.  The  genius  of  the  Jews  is  the  re- 
verse of  what,  in  these  days,  we  should  (all  historical.  .  .  . 
Some  excellent  maxims — even  some  close  parallels  to  the 
utterances  of  Christ— may  be  quoted,  of  course,  from  the 
Talmud,  where  they  lie  imbedded  like  pearls  in  '  a  sea'  ol 
obscurity  and  mud.     It  seems  to  me  indispensable — and  a 


WHAT  IT  IS.  93 

matter  which  every  one  can  now  verify  for  himself — that 
these  are  amazingly  few,  considering  the  vast  bulk  of  na- 
tional literature  from  which  they  are  drawn.  And,  after  all, 
who  shall  prove  to  us  that  these  sayings  were  always  ut- 
tered by  the  rabbis  to  whom  they  were  attributed  ?  Who 
will  supply  us  with  the  faintest  approach  to  a  proof  that 
(when  not  founded  on  the  Old  Testament)  they  were  not 
directly  or  indirectly  due  to  Christian  influence  or  Christian 
thought  ? " 

In   his  History  of  Interpretation  (1886,  p. 
91,  seq.,  106),  he  says: 

"  The  Talmud  is  one  of  the  strangest  of  the  Bibles  of 
humanity!  It  has  been  called 'the  Pandects  of  Judaism,' 
but  it  is  also  the  encyclopaedia  of  Jewish  science,  and  the 
Hansard  of  nearly  a  thousand  year?  of  discussion  in  Jew- 
ish schools,  and  the  Rationale  Officiernm  of  all  its  ceremo- 
nial. It  is  a  veritable  lanx  satiira.  It  consists  of  disputes, 
decisions,  stories,  sermons,  legends,  scripture  comments, 
moral  truths,  prescriptions,  observations,  mazes  of  legal 
enactments,  gorgeous  day-dreams,  masked  history,  ill-dis- 
guised rationalism.  It  is  drawn  from  the  promiscuous  note- 
books of  students  of  very  diverse  attainments  and  character 
in  which  they  have  scribbled  down  all  the  wisdom  and  all 
the  unwisdom,  all  the  sense  and  all  the  nonsense  which 
was  talked  for  centuries  in  the  schools  of  all  kinds  of  Rab- 
bis.    The  Jew  might  say  of  his  beloved  Rabbi, 

1  Quicquid  agunt  homines,  votum,  timor,  ira,  voluptas, 
Gaudia,  discursus,  nostri  est  farrago  libelli.' 

"  The  work  of  hundreds  of  learned  men  of  different  ages, 
countries,  and  conditions,  it  forms  a  wonderful  monument 
of  human  industry,  human  wisdom,  and  human  folly. 
Written  in  a  style  of  lapidary  brevity,  it  reads  like  a  collec- 
tion of  telegraphic  messages.  It  is  also  full  of  uncouth 
grammar,  barbarous  solecisms,  and  exotic  words.  We  can 
hardly  wonder  that  it  is  difficult  to  discover  the  method  of 
its  apparently  confused  and  desultory  discussions,  when  we 
remember  that  it  was  developed  amid  conditions  of  peril 
and  discouragement,  amid  endless  disturbances  of  war  and 
violences  of  persecution,  under  the  jealous  eyes  of  the  Ro- 
man informers  or  the  cruel  greed  and  fanatical  malice  of 
Persian  oppressors.  Such  being  its  origin  it  naturally 
teems  with  errors,  exaggerations,  and  even  obscurities; 
with  strange  superstitions  of  Eastern  demon  ol  ogy ;  with 
wild  Arabian  tales  about  the  freaks  of  Ashmodai ;  with 
childish  extravagances  of  fancy  about  Behemoth  and  the 
bird  Bar  Juchhe  and  the  Shorhabor  ■  with  perverted  logic; 
with  confusions  of  genealogy,  chronology,  and  history; 
with  exorcisms,  incantations,  and  magic  formulae ;  with 
profane  and  old  wives'  fables,  of  which  some  few  may  have 
had  a  hidden  significance  to  those  who  had  the  key  to  their 


o4  THE  TALMUD; 

meaning,  but  of  which  the  majority  were  understood  by  the 
multitude  in  their  literal  absurdity. 

"  These  '  Jewish  myths  and  genealogies,'  as  St.  Paul  calls 
them,  have  their  dark  side.  All  that  can  be  urged  by  way 
of  excuse  for  their  baser  elements  is  that  they  were  not 
always  meant  to  be  taken  literally,  or  to  be  weighed  in  jew- 
eller's scales.  The  "Rabbi,  talking  familiarly  in  his  lighter 
and  unguarded  moments  did  not  intend  his  eager  pupils  to 
retain  and  record  his  most  rash  and  accidental  utterances. 
Here,  however,  in  this  strange  literary  Herculaneum  all 
things  are  swept  together  in  wild  confusion.  Things  grave 
and  fantastic,  great  and  small,  valuable  and  worthless,  Jew- 
ish and  Pagan,  the  altar  and  its  ashes  are  piled  together  in 
wild  disorder.  Amid  the  labyrinths  of  rubbish  we  require 
a  torch  to  enable  us  to  pick  up  an  accidental  gem. 

"  Such  gems,  indeed,  it  contains.  In  this  sea  of  the 
Talmud— 'this  strange,  wild,  weird  ocean,  with  its  levia- 
thans, and  its  wrecks  of  golden  argosies,  and  its  forlorn 
bells,  which  send  up  their  dreamy  sounds  ever  and  anon  ' 
— there  are  some  treasures,  which  have  frequently  been 
gathered  amid  the  froth  and  scum,  the  flotsam  and  jetsam 
of  a  thousand  years.  Exquisite  parables  and  noble  apho- 
risms are  scattered  in  its  pages  here  and  there.  The  gen- 
eral darkness  is  sometimes  broken  by  keen  flashes  of  intel- 
lectual, and  even  of  spiritual  light.  But  these  are  rare, 
and  to  speak  of  the  Talmud  m  such  terms  of  enthusiasm 
as  those  with  which  Dr.  Deutsch  charmed  the  unwary,  or 
to  say  of  it,  with  Professor  Hurwitz,  that  no  uninspired 
work  contains  more  interesting,  more  varied,  or  more  valu- 
able information,— is  to  be  blinded  by  national  prejudice 
to  facts  which  any  one  can  put  to  the  test. 

"  But  the  worst  result  of  the  influence  exercised  by  the 
Talmud  is  the  injury  which  it  inflicted  on  the  living  oracle 
of  God.  We  should  be  paying  to  Talmudism  too  high  a 
compliment  were  we  to  say  that  it  is  like 

'  The  pleached  bower, 
Where  honeysuckles  ripened  by  the  sun 
Forbid  the  sun  to  enter.' 

"The  most  distinctive  flowers  of  the  Talmud  are  artifi- 
cial flowers— flowers  by  which  we  cannot  for  a  moment  be 
deceived. " 

Prof.  Delitzsch  in  his  Jiidisches  Handwefk- 
erleben  zur  Zcit  Jesu,1   says  : 

"  Those  who  have  not  in  some  degree  accomplished  the 
extremely  difficult  task  of  reading  this  work  for  themselves 
will  hardly  be  able  to  form  a  clear  idea  of  this  polynominal 
colossus.  '  It    is    a  vast  debating  club,  in  which  there  hum 


i.    3d  ed.    Erlangen    T879,   p.  35.  (English   translation    by    Rev. 
B.  Pick,  New  York,  1883,  p.  37,  seg.) 


WHAT  IT  IS.  95 

confusedly  the  myriad  voices  of  at  least  five  centuries.  As 
we  all  know  by  experience,  a  law,  though  very  minutely 
and  exactly  defined,  may  yet  be  susceptible  of  various 
interpretations,  and  question  on  question  is  sure  to  arise 
when  it  conies  to  bs  applied  to  the  ever-varying  circum- 
stances of  actual  life.  Suppose,  then,  you  have  about  ten 
thousand  legal  definitions  all  relating  to  Jewish  life,  and 
classified  under  different  heads,  and  add  to  these  ten  thousand 
definitions  about  five  hundred  doctors  and  lawyers,  belong- 
ing mostly  to  Palestine  or  Babylonia,  who  make  these  def- 
initions, one  after  the  other,  the  subject  of  examination  and 
debate,  and  who,  with  hair-splitting  acuteness  exhaust  not 
only  every  possible  sense  the  words  will  bear,  but  every 
possible  practical  occurrence  arising  out  of  them.  Suppose 
that  these  fine-spun  threads  of  these  legal  disquisitions  fre- 
quentlv  lose  themselves  in  digressions,  and  that,  when  one 
has  waded  through  a  long  tract  of  this  sandy  desert,  one 
lights,  here  and  there,  on  some  green  oasis  consisting  of 
stories  and  sayings  of  universal  interest.  This  done,  you 
will  have  some  tolerable  idea  of  this  enormous  and,  in  its 
way,  unique  code  of  laws,  in  comparison  with  which,  in 
point  of  comprehensiveness,  the  law-books  of  all  other  na- 
tions are  but  lilliputian  ;  and,  when  compared  with  the  hum 
of  its  kaleidoscopic  Babel,  they  resemble,  indeed,  calm  and 
studious  retreat." 

Dr.  Geikie  in  his  Life  and  Works  of  Christ 
(New  York,  1881,  vol.  11,  p.  618),  says  : 

"  It  would  be  strange  indeed,  if  in  the  interminable  dust- 
heaps  of  the  Talmud,  of  which  the  Babylonian  alone,  includ 
ing  the  Rabbinical  commentaries  on  it,  fill  twenty-four  vol 
umes  folio  (Venice,  16S2),  did  not  contain  some  stray  pearls. 
Among  the  many  Rabbis  of  successive  centuries,  whose 
sayings  are  reported  in  it,  or  whose  expositions  are 
appended  to  it,  there  was  here  and  there  a  man  of  genius, 
or  of  pure  and  lofty  aspirations  who  has  left  traces  of 
his  finer  or  more  religious  nature  in  sayings  well  worthy 
preservation.  But  glimpses  of  profound  metaphysics,  stray 
parables  of  real  beauty,  and  occasional  sentiments  of  true 
spiritual  breath  and  elevation,  are  only  the  rare  grains  of 
wheat  in  mountains  of  chaff.'' 

Dr.  Edersheim  in  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus 
the  Messiah  (London,  18S3),  vol.  1,  p.  103, 
says  : 

"If  we  imagine  something  combining  law  reports,  a  Rab- 
binical '  Hansard,'  and  notes  of  a  theological  debating  club- 
all  thoroughlv  oriental,  full  of  digressions,  anecdotes,  quaint 
sayings,  fancies,  legend,  and  too  often  of  what,  from  its 
profanity,  superstition  and  even  obscenity,  could  scarcely  be 


g6 


THE  TALMUD; 


quoted,    we    may   form   some    general    idea   of    what    the 
Talmud  is.*' 

Dr.  Schaff  in  History  of  the  Christian 
Church  (New  York,  1883)  vo1-  Hi,  pp.  38, 
39,  says  : 

"The  Talmud  is  the  slow  growth  of  several  centuries. 
It  is  a  chaos  of  Jewish  learning,  wisdom,  and  folly,  a  conti- 
nent of  rubbish,  with  hidden  pearls  of  true  maxims  and  po- 
etic parables.  It  is  the  Old  Testament  misinterpreted  and 
turned  against  the  New,  in  fact,  though  not  in  form.  It  is  a 
Rabbinical  Bible  without  inspiration,  without  the  Messiah, 
without  hope.  It  shares  the  tenacity  of  the  Jewish  race, 
and,  like  it,  continues  involuntarily  to  bear  testimony  to  the 
truth  of  Christianity.  .  .  .  The  Talmud  is  the  Bible  of 
Judaism  separated  from,  and  hostile  to,  Christianity,  but 
it  barely  notices  it  except  indirectly.  It  completed  the 
isolation  of  the  Jews  from  all  other  people." 

In  connection  with  the  last  sentence  of 
Dr.  Schaff,  we  quote  the  following  from  the 
article  "  The  Talmud  "  in  the  "  Edinburgh 
Review,   July,   1873: 

"  But  when  we  sound  the  sombre,  exclusive,  pitiless 
depths  of  the  inner  doctrine  of  the  Talmud,  we  see  that  a 
reason  exists  for  that  marked  and  secular  demarcation  be- 
tween the  Jew  and  the  Gentile,  for  which  we  were  about  to 
blame  our  own  intolerance.  Purposely  and  rigidly,  in  exile 
no  less  than  in  the  splendor  of  the  theocratic  polity,  has 
the  hand  of  the  Jew  been  directed  by  the  depositaries  of  his 
traditions  against  every  man.  It  is  the  law  of  self-defence 
that  has  raised  the  hand  of  everv  man  against  him.  Our 
ancestors  were  not,  after  all,  so  blindly  cruel  as  some  writ- 
ers are  too  ready  to  admit.  Offers  of  friendship  and  of 
brotherhood  are  as  powerless  as  are  the  fires  of  the  Inqui- 
sition to  break  down  that  moral  wall,  substantial  as  the 
very  fortress  wall  of  the  Temple,  that  resisted  the  voice 
of  Christ,  and  that  has  been  strengthened  by  the  con- 
stant efforts  of  the  doctors  of  the  Talmud  for  five  centu- 
ries after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  The  power  of  resist- 
ance is  the  same  at  this  moment  that  it  was  two  thousand 
years  ago.  The  point  of  attack  is  still  the  same  as  in 
the  days  of  Herod.  To  the  question,  'Who  is  my  neigh- 
bor?' the  Talmud  returns  one  reply,  and  the  parable 
of  the  Good  Samaritan  another.  The  mercy  to  be 
shown,  as  Moses  taught,  to  the  stranger,  is  qualified  by  the 
Halaca  by  the  assumption  that  he  must  also  be  a  proselyte. 
All  questions  as  to  which  accord  would  be  otherwise  possi- 
ble, whether  in  the  historic  past,  or  the  dimly  predicted 
future,  are  insoluble,  while  the  justice,  mercy,  and  truth— 


IVIIA  T  IT  IS.  gj 

the  weightier  matters  of  the  Law — are,  by  the  guardians  of 
the  Law  of  Moses,  confined  to  those  of  their  own  faith  and 
blood.  The  vitality  of  Judaism  was  contained  in  the  doc- 
trine, that  the  Jews  had  one  father,  even  Cod.  The  hope 
of  the  future  of  humanity  lies  in  the  good  tidings  that  God 
is  the  common  Father  of  mankind." 


Mr.  Alexander,  in  his  book  on  The  Jews ; 
their  Past,  Present  and  Future  (London,  1870): 

"The  Talmud,  as  it  now  stands,  is  almost  the  whole  liter- 
ature of  the  Jews  during  a  thousand  years.  Commentator 
followed  upon  commentator,  till  at  la'st  the  whole  became 
an  immense  bulk,  the  original  Babylonian  Talmud  alone 
consisting  of  2,  947  folio  pages.  Out  of  such  a  literature 
it  is  easy  to  make  quotations  which  may  throw  an  odium 
over  the  whole.  But  fancy  if  the  production  of  a  thousand 
years  of  English  literature,  say.  from  the  '  History  '  of  the 
venerable  Bede  to  Milton's  '  Paradise  Lost,'  were  thrown 
together  into  a  number  of  uniform  folios,  and  judged  in 
like  manner;  if  because  some  superstitious  monks  wrote 
silly  '  Lives  of  Saints,'  therefore  the  works  of  John  Bun- 
van  should  also  be  considered  worthless.  The  absurdity  is 
too  obvious  to  require  another  word  from  me.  Such,  how- 
ever, is  the  continual  treatment  the  Talmud  receives  both  at 
the  hand  of  its  friends  and  of  its  enemies.  Both  will  find  it 
easy  to  quote  in  behalf  of  their  preconceived  notions,  but 
the  earnest  student  will  rather  try  to  weigh  the  matter  im- 
partially, retain  the  good  he  can  find  even  in  the  Talmud, 
and  reject  what  will  not  stand  the  test  of  Cod's  Word." 

In  conclusion,  while  we  acknowledge  the 
fact  that  this  great  encyclopaedia  of  Hebrew 
wisdom  teems  with  error  and  that  in  almost 
every  department  in  science,  in  natural  his- 
tory, in  chronology,  genealogy,  logic,  and 
morals,  falsehood  and  mistake  are  mixed  up 
with  truth  upon  its  pages,  we  should  never- 
theless confess,  that,  notwithstanding,  with 
all  its  imperfections,  it  is  a  useful  book,  an 
attestation  of  the  past,  a  criterion  of  progress 
already  attained,  and  a  prophecy  of  the 
future. 

"  It  is  a  witness  too.  of  the  lengths  of  folly  to  which 
the  mind  of  man  may  drift  when  he  disdains  the  wisdom 
of  Cod  as  revealed  in  the  Gospel,  and  in  these  respects 
it  will  always  have  a  claim  on  the  attention  of  the  wise. 
When    Talmudism,    as     a    religious   system,  shall    in    a 


98 


THE  TALMUD 


generation  or  two  have  passed  away,  the  Talmud  itself 
will  be  still  resorted  to  as  a  treasury  of  things  amusing 
and  things  profitable  ;  a  deep  cavern  of  antiquity,  where  he 
who  carries  the  necessary  torch  will  not  fail  to  find,  amid 
whole  labyrinths  of  the  rubbish  of  times  gone  by,  those 
inestimable  lessons  that  will  be  true  for  all  times  to  come, 
and  gems  of  ethical  and  poetic  thought  which  retain  their 
brightness  forever." — E'l'HERIDGE,  Introduction  to  Jewish 
Literature. 


LITERARY     USE. 

The  Talmud  has  been  applied  to  the  criti- 
cism and  interpretation  of  the  Old  TESTA- 
MENT. Most  of  its  citations,  however,  agree 
with  the  present  masoretic  text.  It  has  proba- 
bly been  conformed  to  the  masoretic  standard 
by  the  rabbins,  at  least  in  the  later  editions. 
Besides  it  is  very  strange  that  in  relation  to 
the  Pentateuch  the  other  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  are  almost  entirely  ignored.  As 
for  the  interpretation  of  the  Talmud,  with 
its  endless  canons  and  artificial  rules,  Dr. 
Farrar  is  correct  when  he  says,  "  The  actual 
exegesis  of  Scripture  in  which  the  Talmud 
abounds  is  so  arbitrary  and  so  futile,  so 
tasteless  and  so  insincere,  that  it  must  have 
given  to  its  students  a  radically  false  con- 
ception of  their  sacred  books.  It  repre- 
sented to  them  the  Law  of  Moses  as  fragmen- 
tary without  the  supplement  of  tradition, 
and  inexplicable  without  the  intervention 
of  Rabbinism.  The  Jews  were  taught  to 
care  more  for  it  (the  Talmud),  and  to  devote 
more  continued  study  to  its  masses  of 
casuistry  and  extravagance  than  to  the  di- 
vine beauty  of  the  Psalms  and  the  noble 
moral  teaching  of  the  Prophets.  Thus  they 
were  turned  from  the  river  of  life  to  broken 
cisterns  which  could  hold  no  water,  or  only 
the  shallow  and  stagnant  pool  of  a  tradition 
polluted  by  a  thousand  strange  and  hetero- 
geneous influences.  A  "  Biblical  theolo- 
gian "  was  as  great  an  object  of  contempt  to 


WHA  T  IT  IS.  99* 

the  Rabbis  as  he  became  to  the  schoolmen 
in  their  worst  epoch  of  decline."  * 

A  valuable  witness,  however,  is  the  Tal- 
mud as  to  the  state  of  the  Old  Testament 
as  it  was  in  the  time  of  the  Talmud.  And  in 
this  respect  it  may  be  said  that  the  state  of 
the  text  was  then  almost  the  same  as  it  is 
now,  that  is  to  say,  that  most  of  the  masoretic 
apparatus  is  already  mentioned  in  the  Tal- 
mud. We  also  find  some  incidental  notes 
concerning  the  Septuagint  and  the  changes 
introduced  by  the  translators,  also  notices 
concerning  the  canonicity  of  some  books  of 
the  Old  Testament.  All  these  and  the  like 
notices  come  in  incidentally. 

Since  the  Old  Testament  speaks  of  the 
promised  Messiah,  it  is  of  great  interest  to 
know  what  the  Talmud  has  to  say  on  that 
point.  And  here  we  must  remark  at  once  that 
all  the  notices  concerning  the  Messiah  are  of 
post-Christian  date.  The  Mishna  has  nothing 
to  say  about  the  Messiah  ;— the  passage  in 
Sotah  which  speaks  of  the  signs  of  the  ap- 
proaching Messiah  does  not  originally  be- 
long to  the  Mishna. 

NOTICES   CONCERNING    THE    MESSIAH. 

The  locus  classicus  is  found  in  the  treatise 
Sanhedr in  where  the  last  two  lines  of  fol.  96, 
col.  2,  open  as  follows:  "  Rav  Nachman  2 
said  to  Rav  Yitzchak :  Hast  thou  heard 
when  Bar-Naphli  [/.  e.,  the  son  of  the 
fallen]  comes?  He  replied:  Who  is  Bar- 
Naphli?  He  answered,  Messiah.  But  dost 
thou  call  the   Messiah   Bar-Naphli?   He   said, 

1.  History  of  Interpretation,  p.  <>}. 

2.  This  rabbi,  whose  full  name  is  K.  Nachman  ben  Jacob  died 
a  u.  i2o.  <  M  him  we  air  told  I  )  ebamot  i  tol.  ;;.  col.  !,  anJ  J  oma 
f,,l.  ,8,  col,  i.)  that  whenever  he  came  p.  Shachanziv  he  would  ask 
by  proclamation  whether  any  woman  would  be  willing  to  be  his 
wife  during  his  stay  there.  The  same  we  read  /.  c.  of  Rav,  when- 
ever he  came  on  a  visit  to  Dardashir  ! 


IOO  THE  TALMUD; 

Yes,  for  it  is  written  :  "  In  that  day  will  I 
raise  up  (fol.  97,  col.  1)  the  tabernacle  of 
David  that  is  fallen  (han-nopJiclctli.  Amos 
ix.  11.  J)  He  said  to  him,  Thus  said  Rabbi 
Jochanan,  2  The  generation  in  which  the  son 
of  David  3  will  come,  therein  shall  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  wise  grow  fewer  and  fewer ; 
and  as  to  the  rest,  their  eyes  shall  be  con- 
sumed by  trouble  and  groaning,  and  afflic- 
tions shall  be  multiplied,  and  vexatious  de- 
crees shall  be  renewed  ;  whilst  the  first  is 
being  ordered,  the  second  will  hasten  to 
come." 

The  rabbis  have  taught:  In  the  cycle  of 
seven  years  in  which  the  son  of  David  shall 
come,  in  its  first  year  this  passage  will  be 
confirmed  :  "  I  shall  cause  rain  to  come 
upon  one  city,  and  upon  another  city  I  shall 
not  cause  the  rain  to  come  "  (Amos  iv.  7) ;  in 
the  second  the  arrows  of  famine  shall  be  sent 
forth ;  in  the  third  there  shall  be  a  great 
famine,  and  men,  and  women,  and  children 
shall  die,  saints  and  wonder-workers,  and 
the  law  shall  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
studied  it ;  in  the  fourth  shall  be  plenty,  and 
yet  no  plenty  ;  in  the  fifth  shall  be  great 
plenty,  and  they  shall  eat  and  drink,  and 
rejoice,  and  the  law  shall  return  to  those 
who  studied  it  ;  in  the  sixth  there  shall  be 
rumors  [i.e.,  of  the  coming  Messiah j  ;   in  the 


1.  Comp.  Acts  xv.  16,  where  James  quotes  the  same  passage  as 
Messianic. 

2.  Better  known  as  Jochanan  bar  Napha,  i.e.,  the  son  of  a  black- 
smith, died  a.o.  278. 

3.  Son  of  David.  This  name  occurs  very  often  in  the  Talmud 
for  the  Messiah.  Often  only  "David,"  without  the  addition  of 
"  son  "  is  given,  as  in  Rosk-ka-shanak,  fol.  25,  col.  t,  where  we 
read:  "David,  the  King  of  Israel,  lives  and  remains  forever." 
Levy  in  his  Neuhcbr.  Worterbuch  s.  v.  David,  in  quoting  this 
passage  says  that  it  is  probably  a  negation  of  the  alleged  Messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus  (AaBid  6  Xpiarog  6  liaa/'/i  it;  rov  lopaijX,  Matt,  xx., 

>o,  [i,  Mark  xv.,  32),  who  was  killed,  and  to  whom  eternal  life  was 
denied  (sic!  ).  Hut  what  sense  is  there  when  ihe  Orthodox  Jews 
tothisday  use  the  very  same  words,  "  David,  the  King  oi  [srael. 
lives  .mil  remains  forever,"  in  their  prayer  at  the  appearance  of 
the  new  moon  ? 


WHAT  IT  IS.  I0I 

seventh  there  shall  be  wars  ;  at  the  end  of 
the  seventh  the  son  of  David  shall  come. 
R.  Joseph  said:  there  have  been  many 
weeks  of  this  kind,  and  he  has  not  come. 
Abaye  said,  in  the  sixth  year  rumors,  in  the 
seventh  wars ;  has  it  been  so  yet?  and  fur- 
ther, have  the  other  events  happened  in  the 
order  here  laid  down  ?  We  have  the  teach- 
ing, R.  Judah  said,  in  the  generation  in 
which  the  son  of.  David  shall  come,  the 
house  of  assembly  will  be  for  fornication, 
and  Galilee  shall  be  in  ruins,  and  Gaban  laid 
waste,  and  the  men  of  Gebul  shall  go  from 
city  to  city,  and  shall  find  no  favor.  And 
the  wisdom  of  the  scribes  shall  stink,  and 
they  that  fear  sin  shall  be  despised,  and  the 
face  of  that  generation  shall  be  [shameless] 
as  that  of  a  dog ;  truth  shall  fail  as  it  is  said  : 
"  Yea,  truth  faileth "  (Isa.  lix.  15),  and  he 
that  turns  from  evil  will  be  regarded  as  a 
fool.  What  is  the  meaning  :  "  Yea,  truth 
faileth?"  Those  of  the  house  of  Rab  say, 
that  she  shall  be  made  into  droves  [z.  <?., 
divided  among  opposing  schools  or  parties] 
and  thus  go  away.  What  is  the  meaning  of: 
He  that  turns  from  evil  will  be  regarded  as  a 
fool  ?  Those  of  the  house  of  R.  Shilah  say, 
every  one  that  departed  from  evil  shall  be 
counted  a  fool  by  the  world. 

We  have  the  teaching :  R.  Nehorai  says, 
in  the  generation  in  which  the  son  of  David 
shall  come,  the  young  men  shall  make 
ashamed  the  countenances  of  old  men  ;  old 
men  shall  stand  up  in  the  presence  of  young 
men  ;  and  the  daughter  will  rise  against  her 
mother,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against  her 
mother-in-law,  and  the  face  of  that  genera- 
tion shall  be  as  the  face  of  a  dog,  and  the 
son  will  have  no  reverence  for  his  lather. 

We  have  the  teaching  :  R.  Nehemiah  says, 
in  the  generation  in  which  the  son  of  David 


I02  THE  TALMUD; 

shall  come,  impudence  shall  increase,  and  he 
that  will  be  honored,  shall  be  an  unrighteous 
man ;  the  vine  will  produce  its  fruit,  but 
wine  will  be  dear,  and  the  kingdom  will  turn 
itself  to  heresy,  and  there  will  be  no  reproof.* 
This  supports  R.  Isaac,  who  said  :  the  son  of 
David  shall  not  come  till  the  whole  kingdom 
is  turned  to  heresy.  Raba  said  :  where  is 
that  said  [in  Scripture]?  [Answer]  When 
"  it  is  all  turned  white  \i.  e.,  leprous]  the 
man  is  clean"  (Lev.  xiii.  13). 

The  rabbis  have  taught :  "  For  the  Lord 
shall  judge  his  people,"  etc.,  "when  he 
seeth  that  power  is  gone,  and  there  is  none 
shut  up  or  left  "  (Deut.  xxxii.  36),  the  son 
of  David  cometh  not  till  informers  increase. 
Another  meaning  is:  till  disciples  diminish. 
Another  meaning  is:  till  the  farthing  disap- 
pears from  the  purse.  Another  meaning  is : 
till  men  begin  to  give  up  all  hope  of  redemp- 
tion, for  it  is  said,  "  and  there  is  none  shut 
up  or  left,"  and  if  it  were  possible,  there  is 
none  that  upholdeth  and  aideth  Israel.  This 
I  last  interpretation]  is  like  that  [saying]  of 
R.  Zera,  who  upon  finding  the  rabbis  busied 
with  that  question  [viz.:  of  Messiah's  com- 
ing] said  to  them  :  I  pray  you  put  not  the 
time  further  back,  for  we  have  a  tradition  : 
three  things — Messiah,  a  find,  and  a  scorpion. 


*  A  similar  description  of  the  signs  of  the  last  times  is  also  given 
in  the  Treatise  Sotah  fol.  49,  col.  2 :  In  the  foot-prints  of  the 
Messiah,  impudence  will  increase,  and  there  will  be  dearness  [or 
scarcity].  The  vine  will  produce  its  fruit,  but  wine  will  be  dear. 
And  the  kingdom  \i.e.  the  government]  will  turn  itself  to  heresy 
[i.e.  to  Christianity]  and  there  will  be  no  reproof.  And  the  house 
of  the  assembly  will  be  for  fornication.  Galilee  will  be  destroyed, 
and  Gablan  laid  waste.  The  men  of  Gebul  will  go  from  city  to 
city,  and  find  no  favor.  The  wisdom  of  the  scribes  will  stink,  and 
those  who  fear  sin  will  be  despised,  and  truth  will  fail.  Boys  will 
whiten  [i.e.  confuse]  the  laics  of  old  men  ;  and  old  men  will  rise  Ctp 
before  the  young.  The  son  will  treat  the  father  shamefully,  and 
the  daughter  will  rise  up  aeainst  her  mother,  and  the  daiughter-i-n- 
rinst  the  mother-in-law,  and  a  man's  foes  will  he  those  of 
his  own  household,  the  face  of  that  «eneration  will  be  as  the  face  of 
a  i\>"*  ;  the  son  will  have  no  shame,  before  his  father.  Upon  whom 
then  are  we  to  trust  ?     Upon  our  Father,  which  is  in  Heaven. 


WHAT  IT  IS.  j 03 

R.  Ketina  said  :  the  world  is  to  last  6000 
years,  and  for  1000  it  shall  lie  in  ruins,  for  it 
is  said  :  "  and  the  Lord  alone  shall  be  exalted 
in  that  day  (Isa.  ii.  11).  Abayc  said:  for 
2000  it  will  lie  waste,  for  it  is  said  :  "  He  will 
vivify  us  for  two  days,  on  the  third  day  he 
will  raise  us  up,  and  we  shall  live  in  his 
sight "  (Hos.  vi.  2).  The  opinion  of  R. 
Ketina  is  supported  as  follows  :  As  in  the 
heptad  there  is  one  year  of  remission,  so  like- 
wise in  that  age  there  will  be  a  remission  of  a 
thousand  years  in  seven  thousand  years,  for 
it  is  said:  "  And  the  Lord  alone  shall  be  ex- 
alted in  that  day,"  and  it  is  also  said:  "A 
psalm  of  singing  for  the  Sabbath  day  "  (Ps. 
xcii.  1),  a  day  which  shall  be  altogether  Sab- 
bath, and  it  is  also  said  :  a  thousand  years 
in  thy  sight  are  but  as  yesterday,  when  it  is 
past  (Ps.  xc.  4). 

Tradition  of  the  school  of  Elijah :  the 
world  is  to  stand  6000  years  ;  two  thousand 
years  confusion,  two  thousand  the  law,  two 
thousand  the  days  of  Messiah  (fol.  97,  col.  2), 
but  on  account  of  our  sins,  which  have  so 
multiplied,  there  have  elapsed  of  them  so 
many  as  have  already  elapsed  [without 
Messiah  appearing]. 

Eliyahu  said  to  Rav  Judah,  brother  of  Rav 
Sallah,  the  pious  :  the  world  cannot  last  less 
than  eighty-five  jubilees  [i.  c,  4165  years],  and 
in  the  last  jubilee  the  son  of  David  comes. 

At  the  beginning  or  at  the  end  of  it  ?  He 
replied  :   I  know  not. 

Will  [the  whole  time]  have  already  passed 
or  not :   I  know  not. 

Rav  Ashe  said,  thus  had  he  spoken  to  me  : 
until  that  time  expect  him  not  ;  from  that 
time  onward  expect  him. 

Rav  Chanan,  the  son  of  Tachlipha,  sent 
word  to  Rav  Joseph  :  I  have  found  a  man  with 
a  scroll    in  his  hand,  written  with  Assyrian 


I04  THE  TALMUD; 

letters,  but  in  the  sacred  tongue,  and  I  asked 
him  whence  didst  thou  get  it  ?  and  he  re- 
plied :  I  was  a  hired  soldier  in  the  Persian 
army,  and  I  found  it  among  the  Persian 
treasures.  And  in  this  book  was  written : 
four  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety-one 
years  after  the  creation  of  the  world,  the 
world  shall  cease  ;  some  of  the  intervening 
years  shall  be  spent  in  wars  of  dragons,  some 
in  wars  of  Gog  and  Magog,  and  the  rest  shall 
be  the  days  of  Messiah  ;  and  the  Holy  One 
— blessed  be  his  name — shall  not  renew  this 
world  till  after  seven  thousand  years. 

R.  Acha,  son  of  Raba ,  says  :  after  5000 
years,  so  runs  our  tradition. 

There  is  a  teaching  :  R.  Nathan  said  :  this 
scripture  penetrates  down  into  the  abyss  [i.  e., 
is  of  the  deepest  import] :  "  For  the  vision  is 
yet  for  an  appointed  time,  but  at  the  end  it 
shall  speak  and  not  lie  ;  though  it  tarry,  wait 
for  it  ;  because  it  will  surely  come,  it  will 
not  tarry  behind  (Hab.  ii.  3)  not  [do]  as  [did] 
our  teachers  who  were  inquiring  concerning 
"  until  a  time,  and  times  and  the  dividing  of 
a  time  "  (Dan.  vii.  25);  nor  like  R.  Simla'f, 
who  was  inquiring  concerning  "Thou  feedest 
them  with  the  bread  of  tears ;  thou  makest 
them  drink  of  weeping  in  a  threefold  meas- 
ure "  (Ps.  lxxx.  6)  ;  nor  like  R.  Aqiba,  who 
was  inquiring  :  "  Yet  once,  it  is  a  little  while 
and  I  will  shake  the  heavens  and  the  earth  " 
(Hag.  ii.  5);  but  the  first  kingdom  [*'.  e.,  that 
of  the  Maccabees]  was  of  seventy  years'  [du- 
ration], the  second  kingdom  [that  of  Herod] 
of  fifty-two  years,  and  the  kingdom  of  Ben 
Coziba  [z.  e.,  son  of  a  lie]  two  years  and  a 
half,  what  [meaneth  then]  He  shall  breathe 
forth  for  the  end,  and  will  not  lie  ?  R. 
Samuel,  son  of  Nachmani,  said  that  R.  Jona- 
than said  :  May  the  bones  of  those  who  com- 
pute the  latter  days  [when  Messiah  shall  ap- 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


105 


pear]  be  blown  ;  for  sonic  say,  because  the 
time  [of  Messiah]  has  come  and  Himself  has 
not,  therefore  lie  will  never  come.  But 
wait  thou  for  Him,  as  it  is  said:  "Though 
He  tarry,  wait  for  Him  "  (Hab.  ii.  3).  Per- 
haps you  will  say,  we  wait,  but  He  does  not 
wait  ;  learn  rather  to  say  "and  therefore  will 
the  Lord  wait,  that  He  may  be  gracious  un- 
to you  ;  and  therefore  will  He  be  exalted, 
that  He  may  have  mercy  upon  you  "  (Isa. 
xxx.  18).  But  now,  seeing  that  both  we 
are  waiting  and  He  waiteth,  what  prevents 
[the  coming]  ?  The  [divine]  quality  of 
judgment  hinders.  But  as  the  [divine]  qual- 
ity of  judgment  hinders,  why  do  we  still 
wait  ?  [Answer]  to  receive  reward,  for  it  is 
said :  "  Blessed  are  all  they  that  wait  for 
him  "  (Isa.  xxx.  18). 

Rav  said  :  all  the  appointed  times  are  long 
since  past,  and  the  thing  depends  only  on 
penitence  and  good  works.  Samuel  said,  it 
is  enough  that  the  mourner  remain  in  his 
mourning  [i.  c,  the  final  deliverance  will  not 
be  brought  about  by  Israel's  good  works,  but 
by  God's  sole  mercy,  who  mourns  in  and 
with  his  people],  as  the  tradition  is. 

R.  Eliezer,  said,  if  Israel  do  repentance 
they  will  be  redeemed,  but  if  not,  they  will 
not  be  redeemed. 

R.  Joshua  replied  :  If  they  do  not  repent 
they  will  not  be  redeemed,  but  God  will  raise 
up  to  them  a  king  whose  decrees  shall  be  as 
dreadful  as  Hainan,  and  then  Israel  will  re- 
pent and  thus  he  will  bring  them  back  to 
what  is  good. 

Another  tradition.  R.  Eliezer  said :  If 
Israel  do  repentance,  they  shall  be  redeemed, 
for  it  is  said  :  "Turn,  oh  backsliding  children  ; 
I  will  heal  your  backsliding "  (Jer.  hi.  22), 
R.  Joshua  replied,  But  was  it  not  said  long 
since :  "  Ye  have  sold  yourselves  for  nought ; 


I06  TH-R   TALMUD; 

and  ye  shall  be  redeemed  without  money  " 
(Isa.  lv.  3).  Where  the  words  "  sold  for 
nought  "  meant  for  idolatry  ;  and  the  words 
''redeemed  without  money"  signify  not  for 
money  and  good  works.  R.  Eliezer  then 
said  to  Rabbi  Joshua,  But  has  it  not  been 
said  long  since  :  "  Return  unto  me,  and  I  will 
return  unto  you  "  (Mai.  iii.  7).  R.  Joshua  re- 
plied, But  has  it  not  been  said  long  since, 
"  I  am  married  unto  you,  and  I  will  take  you 
one  of  a  city,  and  two  of  a  family,  and  I  will 
bring  you  to  Zion  "  (Jer.  iii.  14).  R.  Eliezer 
said,  But  has  it  not  been  written  long  since, 
"In  returning  and  rest  ye  shall  be  saved  ?" 
(Isa.  xxx.  15).  R.  Joshua  replied  to  Rabbi 
Eliezer,  But  has  it  not  been  said  long  ago  : 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  Redeemer  of 
Israel  and  His  Holy  One,  to  him  whom  man 
despiseth,  to  him  whom  the  nation  abhoreth, 
to  a  servant  of  rulers  (fol.  98,  col.  1),  kings 
shall  see  and  arise,  princes  shall  worship  " 
(Isa.  xlix.  7).  R.  Eliezer  said  to  him  again, 
But  has  it  not  been  said  long  ago,  "  If  thou 
wilt  return,  Oh,  Israel,  return  unto  me  " 
(Jer.  iv.  1).  To  which  R.  Joshua  replied, 
But  has  it  not  been  written  long  ago,  "  I 
heard  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which  was 
upon  the  waters  of  the  river,  when  he  held 
up  his  right  hand  and  his  left  hand  unto 
heaven,  and  sware  by  Him  that  liveth  for- 
ever that  it  shall  be  for  a  time  and  times  and 
half  a  time  ;  and  when  he  shall  have  accom 
plished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  peo- 
ple, all  these  things  shall  be  finished  "  (Dan. 
xii.  7).     Whereupon  R.  Eliezer  was  silent. 

R.  Chanina  said  :  The  son  of  David  will 
not  come  till  fish  will  not  be  found  even 
when  required  for  a  sick  man  ;  for  it  is  said  : 
"  Then  will  I  cause  their  waters  to  sink,  and 
their  rivers  to  run  like  oil "  (Eze.  xxxii.  14), 


WHAT  IT  IS.  lQ~ 

and  "  in   that   day  will   I   cause  the  horn   of 
Israel  to  bud"  (Eze.  xxix.  21). 

Rav  Chama,  the  son  of  R.  Chanina,  said  : 
"  The  son  of  David  will  not  come  till  the 
kingdom  will  entirely  cease  in  Israel,  for  it 
is  said  :  "  he  shall  both  cut  off  the  sprigs  with 
pruning  hooks"  (Isa.  xviii.  5),  and  again,  "  In 
that  time  shall  the  present  be  brought  unto 
the  Lord  of  hosts  of  a  people  scattered  and 
peeled  "  (v.  7). 

Ze'iri  said  in  the  name  of  R.  Chanina:  The 
son  of  David  will  not  come  till  the  proud 
ones  have  disappeared  from  Israel,  for  it  is 
said  :  "  For  then  will  I  take  away  out  of  the 
midst  of  thee  them  that  rejoice  in  thy  pride  " 
(Zeph.  iii.  11),  and  "I  will  also  leave  in  the 
midst  of  thee  an  afflicted  and  poor  people, 
and  they  shall  trust  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  "  (v.  12). 

R.  SimlaY  said  in  the  name  of  R.  Eliezer 
the  son  of  R.  Simeon  :  The  son  of  David  will 
not  come  till  all  judges  and  officers  shall 
cease  in  Israel  ;  for  it  is  said  :  "  I  will  restore 
thy  judges  as  at  first,  and  thy  counsellors  as 
at  the  beginning  "  (Isa.  i.  26). 

R.  Jochanan  said  :  If  thou  seest  a  genera- 
tion, whose  prosperity  is  gradually  diminish- 
ing, look  out  for  Him,  for  it  is  said:  "  And 
the  afflicted  people  thou  wilt  save  "  (2  Sam. 
xii.  28).  R.  Jochanan  also  said  :  If  thou 
seest  a  generation  overwhelmed  with  great 
calamities,  as  with  a  flood  look  out  for  Him; 
for  it  is  said  :  "  When  the  enemy  shall  come 
like  a  flood  ....  the  Redeemer  shall  come 
to  Zion  "  (Isa.  lix.  19,  20).  And  R.  Jochanan 
further  said :  The  son  of  David  will  come 
only  in  a  generation  which  is  either  wholly 
guiltless,  or  wholly  guilty;  as  for  the  first  it 
is  written  :"  Thy  people  shall  be  all  right- 
eous: they  shall  inherit  the  land  forever" 
(Isa.  lx.  21),  and  as  for  the  latter  it  is  writ- 


I0g  THE    TALMUD; 

ten :  "  and  he  saw  that  there  was  no  man, 
and  wondered  that  there  was  no  interces- 
sor '  (Isa.  lix.  16),  and  it  is  added  :  "  for  mine 
own  sake  will  I  do  it  "  (xlviii.  1 1). 

R.  Alexander  said  of  R.  Joshua,  the  son 
of  Levi,  who  remarked  :  In  one  place  it  is 
written  "  Behold,  one  like  the  son  of  man 
came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven  "  (Dan.  vii. 
17),.  and  in  another:  "  Lowly  and  riding 
upon  an  ass"  (Zee.  ix.  9).  [How  is  this  to 
be  understood  ?  and  he  answered:]  if  they 
will  be  worthy,  He  will  come  with  the 
cloud  of  heaven  ;  if  not  He  will  come  lowly 
and  riding  upon  an  ass.  King  Shevur  [pro- 
bably Sapor  A.D.  250]  said  to  Samuel:  You 
say,  Messiah  will  come  on  an  ass,  I  will  send 
him  my  fleet  steed.  He  replied  :  hast  thou 
one  of  a  hundred  colors  ?  [because  the  ass  of 
the  Messiah  has  so  many  colors]. 

R.  Joshua,  the  son  of  Levi,  found  Elijah 
standing  at  the  door  of  the  cave  of  R.  Simon, 
the  son  of  Yochai,  and  said  to  him  :  shall  I 
arrive  at  the  world  to  come?  He  replied: 
if  this  the  Lord  will.  R.  Joshua,  the  son  of 
Levi,  said,  I  see  two  but  I  hear  the  voice  of 
three.  He  also  asked :  when  will  Messiah 
come  ?  Elijah  replied,  go  and  ask  himself. 
R.  Joshua  then  said,  where  does  he  sit?  At 
the  gate  of  the  city.  And  how  is  he  to  be 
known?  He  is  sitting  among  the  poor  and 
sick,  and  they  open  their  wounds  and  bind 
them  up  again  all  at  once ;  but  he  opens 
only  one,  and  then  he  opens  another,  for  he 
thinks,  perhaps  I  may  be  wanted,  and  then 
I  must  not  be  delayed.  R.  Joshua  went  to 
him,  and  said  :  Peace  be  upon  thee,  my  mas- 
ter and  my  Lord.  He  replied,  Peace  be 
upon  thee,  son  of  Levi.  The  rabbi  then 
asked  him:  when  will  my  Lord  come?  He 
replied,  To-day.  R.  Joshua  went  back  to 
Elijah,  who  asked   him  :   what  did  he  [Mes- 


WHAT  IT  IS.  log 

siah]  say  to  thee  ?  He  replied  :  Peace  be 
upon  thee,  son  of  Levi:  to  which  Elijah 
said  :  By  this  he  has  assured  thee  and  thy 
father  of  the  world  to  come.  R.  Joshua  said  : 
He  has  deceived  me,  for  he  said  to  me,  that 
he  will  come  to-day  and  yet  he  did  not  come. 
Elijah  said  to  him,  he  said  to  thee  "  to-day, " 
that  is,  "  to-day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice  " 
(Ps.  xci.  7). 

The  disciples  of  R.  Jose  the  son  of  Kisma, 
asked  :  When  will  the  son  of  David  come  ? 
He  replied:  I  am  afraid  that  you  might  ask 
of  me  a  sign.  They  replied:  We  will  not  ask 
of  thee  a  sign.  He  then  said  to  them  :  When 
this  gate  falls  and  is  rebuilt  and  falls  again 
and  they  cannot  rebuild  it,  then  the  son 
of  David  will  come. 

(Fol.  98  col.  2).  Rav  said :  The  son  of 
David  will  not  come  until  the  ungodly  king- 
dom has  spread  itself  for  a  period  of  nine 
months  over  Israel,  for  it  is  said  :  "  There- 
fore will  He  give  them  up  until  the  time  of 
a  child-bearing  woman  hath  brought  forth, 
and  the  rest  of  His  brethren  shall  return 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  "  (Mic.  v.  3). 

Ulla  said  :  "  Let  the  Messiah  come  but 
may  I  never  see  it."  The  same  also,  said 
Rava. 

Rav  Joseph  said,  "  Let  Him  come!  and  I 
maybe  counted  worthy  to  sit  even  under  the 
shadow  of  the  dung  of  His  ass.  " 

Abaii  asked  Rava,  "  Why  [wouldest  thou 
not  care  to  see  the  time  of  the  Messiah's  com- 
ing ]? "  Is  it  because  of  the  pains  of  the 
Messiah  ?  [There  is  a  remedy]  for  we  have 
the  teaching  that  the  disciples  of  Rabbi  Elie- 
zer  asked  him,  What  is  a  man  to  do  that  he 
may  be  delivered  from  the  pains  of  the  Mes- 
siah ?  [Answer]  Let  him  diligently  occupy 
himself  with  the  Law  and  with  benevolence. 

Rav  said,  the  world  was  only  created  for 


HO  THE    TALMUD; 

the  sake  of  David  ;  Samuel  said,  for  the 
sake  of  Moses.  Rabbi  Jochanan  said,  only 
for  the  sake  of  Messiah.  What  is  his  name? 
Those  of  the  school  of  Rabbi  Shiloh  said  : 
Shiloh  is  his  name,  for  it  is  said  :  "  until  Shi- 
loh come"  (Gen.  xlix.  10).  Those  of  the 
school  of  Jannai  said :  Yinnon  is  his  name, 
for  it  is  said  :  "  His  name  shall  endure  for- 
ever ;  his  name  shall  be  continued  (w»  fw) 
as  long  as  the  sun  "  (Ps.  lxxii.  17)  ;  Those  of 
the  school  of  R.  Chanina  said  :  Chanina  is 
his  name,  for  it  is  said  :  "■  where  I  will  not 
shew  you  favor"  (Jer.  xvi.  13).  Some  say, 
Menahem  [i.  e.,  comforter],  the  son  of  His- 
kiah,  is  his  name,  for  it  is  said:  ''the  com- 
forter that  should  relieve  my  soul  is  far  from 
me"  (Lam.  i.  16).  But  the  rabbis  say  :  the 
leper  of  the  house  of  Rabbi  is  his  name,  for 
it  is  said  :  "  surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs, 
and  carried  our  sorrows ;  yet  we  did  esteem 
him  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted  " 
(Isa.  liii.  4). 

Rav  Nachman  said  :  If  there  be  any  like 
Him  among  the  living,  it  is  I,  for  it  is  said  : 
"  This  exalted  one  shall  be  of  itself,  and  its 
ruler  shall  proceed  from  its  midst  "  ( Jer. 
xxx.  21). 

Rav  Jehuda  said  that  Rav  said  :  God  will 
raise  up  for  them  another  David,  as  it  is 
said  :  "  They  shall  serve  the  Lord  their  God, 
and  David  their  king,  whom  I  will  raise  up 
until  then "  (Jer.  xxx.  9).  But,  demanded 
Rav  Papa  of  Abaii,  is  it  not  written  :  "  My 
servant  David  shall  be  their  prince  forever"? 
( Eze.  xxxvii.  25).  [Reply]  That  is  like  a 
Caesar  and  a  demi-Csesar. 

Rabbi  Simlai  thus  expounded:  "Woe 
unto  you  that  desire  the  day  of  the  Lord  ! 
to  what  end  is  it  for  you?  the  day  of  the 
Lord  is  darkness,  and  not  light"  (Am.  v. 
18).  A  cock  and  a  bat  were  once  waiting 
for  the  light,  when  the  former   said  to  the 


WIIA  T  IT  IS.  Ill 

latter  :  I  wait  for  the  light  because  it  is  in- 
tended for  me  :  but  of  what  use  will  it  be  to 
thee?  (fol.  99,  col.  i).  This  (adds  the  nar- 
rator) is  similar  to  the  reply  given  by  Rabbi 
Abuhu  to  a  certain  Christian,  who  had  asked 
him  :  When  will  Messiah  come  ?  He  re- 
plied :  When  darkness  will  cover  your 
people.  Why  dost  thou  curse  me?  asked 
the  other.  The  Rabbi  answered  :  Scripture 
says  so :  "  For,  behold,  the  darkness  shall 
cover  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  peo- 
ple ;  but  the  Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee,  and 
his  glory  shall  be  seen  upon  thee  "  (Isa.  lx.  2). 
Rabbi  Eliezer  says,  The  days  of  the  Mes- 
siah will  be  forty  years,  because  it  is  said 
"  forty  years  was 'I  grieved  with  this  genera- 
tion "  (Ps.  xcv.  10).  Rabbi  Eleazar  ben  Az- 
ariah  said  seventy  years,  because  it  is  said  : 
"  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that 
Tyre  shall  be  forgotten  seventy  years  ac- 
cording to  the  days  of  one  king  (Isa.  xxiii. 
15).  Who  is  that  one  king?  [Reply]  The 
Messiah.  Rabbi  says,  three  generations,  for 
it  is  said:  "They  shall  fear  thee  as  long  as 
the  sun  and  moon  endure,  from  generation 
to  generation  "  (Ps.  lxxii.  5). 

Rabbi  Hillel  says:  "There  will  be  no 
Messiah  for  Israel,  because  they  have  en- 
joyed (fol.  99,  col.  1)  him  already  in  the 
days  of  Hezekiah."  Said  Rav  Joseph,  may 
God  pardon  R.  Hillel.  When  was  Heze- 
kiah? In  the  first  house,  but  Zechariah 
prophesied  in  the  second  house,  and  said  : 
"  Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ; 
shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem ;  behold, 
thy  king  cometh  unto  thee  :  he  is  just  and 
having  salvation  ;  lowly  and  riding  upon  an 
ass,  and  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass " 
(Zech.  ix.  9).1 

1.  Farrar  {History  of  Interpretation*  p.  67)  applies  this  saying  to 
Hillel  the  Great,  but  we  doubt  the  correctness  of  this  application. 


112  THE  TALMUD; 

Rabbi  Eliezer  says,  the  days  of  the  Mes- 
siah are  forty  years  ;  for  in  one  place  it  is 
written:  "and  he  suffered  thee  to  hunger, 
and  fed  thee"  (Deut.  viii.  3),  and  in  another 
place  it  is  written  :  "  Make  us  glad  according 
to  the  days  wherein  thou  hast  afflicted  us, 
and  the  years  wherein  we  have  seen  evil " 
(  Ps.  xc.  15). 

Rabbi  Dosa  said,  Four  hundred  years,  be- 
cause it  is  written  :  "  They  shall  afflict  them 
four  hundred  years "  (Gen.  xv.  13)  and  in 
another  place  :  «*  Make  us  glad  according  to 
the  days- wherein  thou  hast  afflicted  us." 

Rabbi  says,  Three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
years,  according  to  the  number  of  the  days 
of  the  sun,  for  it  is  said  :  "  The  day  of  ven- 
geance is  in  mine  heart,  and  the  year  of 
my  redeemed  is  come  "  (Isa.  lxiii.  4). 

Abimi,  the  son  of  Rabbi  Abuhu,  teaches, 
the  days  of  the  Messiah  for  Israel  are  seven 
thousand  years,  because  it  is  said  :  "  As  the 
bridegroom  rejoiceth  over  the  bride,  so  shall 
thy  God  rejoice  over  thee  "  (Isa.  lxii.  5). 

Rav  Nachman  bar  Yitzchak  says,  as  from 
the  days  of  Noah  down  to  this  time,  for  it  is 
said  :  "  For  this  as  the  days  of  Noah  unto 
me :  for  as  I  have  sworn  that  the  waters  of 
Noah,"  etc.    (Isa.  liv.  9). 

Rabbi  Chiya,  the  son  of  Abba,  said,  R. 
Jochanan  said  :  All  the  prophets  prophesied 
only  with  reference  to  the  days  of  the  Mes- 
siah :  but  as  regards  the  world  to  come, 
"  Eye  hath  not  seen,  O  Lord,  beside  thee  ; 
what  he  will  do  for  him  that  waiteth  for 
him  "  (Isa.  Ixiv.  3).  This  militates  against 
Samuel,  who  said  that  the  difference  be- 
tween this  age  and  the  days  of  the  Messiah, 
consists  only  in  the  cessation  of  [Israel's] 
subjection  to  the  Kingdoms. 


IV J/ A  T  IT  IS.  j  i  ^ 


PART  II. 
THE  TALMUD  ON  JESUS. 

I.    THE   NAME. 

"  THE  name  of  Jesus,"  says  Farrar,  "oc- 
curs some  twenty  times  only  in  unexpur- 
gated  editions  of  the  Talmud,  the  last  of 
which  appeared  at  Amsterdam  in  1645.  The 
allusions  to  Him  are  characterized  by  in- 
tense hatred,  disguised  by  intense  fear.  They 
are  also  marked  by  all  the  gross  and  reckless 
carelessness  of  these  utterly  uncritical  and 
unhistorical  writers."  T  In  the  Talmud  dif- 
ferent names  are  given  to  Jesus,  viz.: 

1.  Jesus  and  The  Nazarene.  Thus  we 
read,  Sot  a  fol.  47,  col.  I:  Our  rabbis  have 
taught :  Let  the  right  hand  always  attract 
him  again,  whom  the  left  has  repelled  ;  not 
like  Elisha  who  repelled  Gehazi  with  his  two 
hands  [and  not  like  Joshua  ben  Perachya  who 
repelled  the  Nazarene  with  his  two  hands].  * 
As  for  Joshua  ben  Perachya,  the  following 
story  is  related  on  the  same  page,  which, 
however,  we  give  according  to  the  more  com- 
plete version  in  Sanhedrin  fol.  107,  col.  2. 
[After  the  slaughter  of  the  rabbis  by  order 
of  King  Jannai,  Rabbi  Joshua,  the  son  of 
Perachya,  fled  with  Jesus  to  Alexandria  in 
Egypt.'    When    peace  was  restored,  Simeon, 


t.  Life  of  Christ,  II.,  p.  452.  .  ., 

2  The  words  within  brackets  are  not  in  the  present  editions  of  the 
Taimud  This  applies  to  all  words  thus  bracketed.  Wiinsche,  Der 
Babylonische  Talmud  (vol.  II.,  p.  340).  also  remarks  that  these 
words  of  Sota  fol.  47,  col.  1,  are  wanting  in  our  editions. 

3 


H4  THE    TALMUD; 

the  son  of  Shetach,  sent  an  epistle  to  Joshua, 
with  the  following  contents  :  "  From  me, 
Jerusalem,  the  holy  city,  to  thee,  Alexandria 
in  Egypt.  My  sister,  my  husband  lives  in 
the  midst  of  thee,  and  I  mourn  desolate  and 
lonely."  At  this,  Joshua  betook  himself  to 
return,  and  on  the  way  he  stopped  at  an  inn, 
where  he  was  greatly  honored.  "  What  a 
fine  inn  is  this  !  "  said  the  rabbi.  He  [Jesus] 
said :  "  Her  eyes  are  sore."  At  this  the 
rabbi  said  :  "  Thou  impious  fellow,  do  you 
pay  attention  to  such  things?  "  He  brought 
four  hundred  trumpets,  and  excommunicated 
him.  He  [Jesus]  asked  very  often  to  be  re- 
admitted again,  but  in  vain.  One  day.  when 
the  rabbi  recited  the  words,  "  Hear,  O 
Israel!"  Jesus  appeared  again  before  him. 
The  rabbi  made  signs;  but  Jesus,  misunder- 
standing them,  thought  the  rabbi  did  not 
care  for  him.  At  this,  Jesus  turned  away, 
and  erected  an  altar,  and  bowed  before  it. 
When  the  rabbi  told  him  to  repent,  Jesus 
answered  :  I  have  learned  from  thee  this  doc- 
trine :  "  Whoever  sinneth  and  causeth  others 
to  sin  can  never  repent.  "  And  said  Mar : 
Jesus  was  a  sorcerer  and  seduced  and  misled 
[Israel].  This  story  evidently  proves  that 
the  rabbis  knew  of  the  flight  of  Jesus  in- 
to Egypt,  although  the  occurrence  is  an 
anachronism,  for  Joshua  lived  a  century 
before  Christ. 

In  the  treatise  Gittin  fol.  56,  col.  2,  57,  col. 
a,  we  read  the  following  filthy  story  :  "  On- 
kelos  bar  Kalonikos,  son  of  the  sister  of 
Titus,  wished  to  become  a  proselyte.  By 
means  of  necromancy  he  conjured  up  Titus. 
'  Who  is  most  esteemed  in  the  other  world  ?  ' 
Titus  replied,  Israel,  but  warned  him  against 
embracing  their  faith,  because  of  the  great 
difficulty  in  fulfilling  all  its  multitudinous 
commandments,   and  advised   him  to  perse- 


WHA  T  IT  IS.  i  1 5 

cute  them,  for  every  one  who  oppresses 
Israel  shall  become  a  chief,  as  it  is  written: 
"  Her  adversaries  are  the  chief"  (Lament.  I. 
5)  i.  e.,  whoever  oppresses  Israel  will  be  a 
chief.  He  then  inquired  of  Titus  concern- 
ing his  punishment  in  the  other  world  !  He 
rejoined,  'I  suffered  the  penalty,  I  have  asked 
for.  Daily  my  ashes  are  collected,  out  of 
which  my  person  is  made,  and  burned  again, 
and  then  my  ashes  are  scattered  over  seven 
seas.'  Balaam,  whom  he  brought  up  next, 
also  told  him  that  the  Jews  were  the  most 
distinguished  in  the  other  world,  and  yet  ad- 
monished him,  "neither  to  seek  their  peace, 
nor  their  prosperity  all  his  days  forever," 
(Deut.  xxiii.  6).  What  is  your  punishment 
in  the  other  world  ?  Balaam  replied,  '  I  am 
boiled  daily  in  semine  coitus'  ■  At  last  he 
brought  up  Jesus,  2  of  whom  he  asked  the 
same  question  and  from  whom  he  received 
the  same  answer.  He  then  asked  :  '  Shall  I 
become  a  Jew  ?  '  to  which  the  reply  was  : 
'Seek  their  good  and  not  their  evil.'  Who- 
ever toucheth  them,  toucheth  the  apple  of 
his  eye.  What  is  your  punishment?  He 
saith,  '  In  the  boiling  filth.'  For  Mar  saith, 
'  Whoever  mocketh  at  the  words  of  the  wise, 
is  judged  in  the  boiling  filth.'  " 

In  the  Treatise  SanJiedrin  fol.  43,  col.  1, 
at  the  bottom  we  read  in  non-expurgated  edi- 
tions :  [On  the  eve  of  the  Passover  Jesus  was 
hung.  The  herald,  however,  announced  40 
days  before  :  Jesus  is  led  forth  to  be  killed 
because  he  was  a  sorcerer  and  has  misled 
Israel ;  if  any  one  knows  something  in  his 
favor,  let  him  come  and  say  so.     But  as  there 


1.  Pusey,  What  is  of  Faith  as  to  Everlasting  Punishment  (Lon- 
don, 1880),  p.  163,  has  not  translated  the  words  which  we  put  into 
Latin,  because  as  lu-  says:  "  Decency  again  forbids  to  translate  the 
answer  put  into  the  mouth  ol   Balaam." 

2.  In  the  present  editions  we  read  for  "Jesus,"  "impious 
Israelite."     The  latter  reading  Wunsche  rejects. 


Il6  THE    TALMUD; 

was  nothing  found  in  his  favor,  he  was  hung 
on  the  eve  of  the  Passover.  Ulla  said  :  But 
was  he  worthy  of  favor,  since  he  was  a  se- 
ducer, and  the  Scripture  says  :  "  Neither 
shalt  thou  spare,  neither  shalt  thou 
conceal  him,"  (Deut.  xiii.  8).  But  it  was 
different  with  Jesus,  he  was  of  royal  de- 
scent. The  rabbis  have  handed  down  that 
Jesus  had  five  disciples  :  Matthew,  Nikaeus, 
Nezer,  Boni  and  Thoda.  They  brought 
Matthew  [to  suffer  the  extreme  penalty  of 
the  law].  He  said  to  them  :  Shall  Matthew 
be  destroyed?  It  is  written  :  when  (mathai) 
shall  I  appear  before  God  ?  (Ps.  xlii..  2). 
They  said  to  him  :  Verily,  Matthew  shall  be 
destroyed.  It  is  written  :  When  (mathai) 
shall  he  die  and  his  name  perish  ?  (Ps.  xli. 
5).  They  brought  Nikaeus.  He  said  to 
them  :  Shall  Nikaeus  be  destroyed  ?  It  is 
written  :  The  innocent  (naki)  and  righteous 
slay  thou  not  (Exod.  xxiii.  7.)  They  said 
to  him  :  Verily  Nikaeus  shall  be  destroyed, 
for  it  is  written  :  In  the  secret  places  does  he 
murder  the  innocent  (naki,  Ps.  x.  8).  They 
brought  Nezer.  He  said  to  them :  Shall 
Nezer  be  destroyed  ?  It  is  written  :  A  branch 
(nezer)  shall  grow  out  of  his  root  (Isa.  xi.  1). 
They  said  to  him:  Verily,  Nezer  shall  be 
destroyed,  for  it  is  written  :  "  Thou  art  cast 
out  of  thy  grave  as  an  abominable  branch 
(nezer,  Isa.  xiv.  19).  They  brought  Boni. 
He  said  to  them  :  Shall  Boni  be  destroyed? 
It  is  written  :  Israel  is  my  son  (beni),  even 
my  first-born  (Exod.  iv.  22).  They  said  to 
him  :  Verily  Boni  shall  be  destroyed.  It  is 
written  :  I  will  slay  thy  son  (bincha),  even 
thy  first-born  (Exod.  iv.  23).  They  brought 
Thoda  [Thaddeus  ?].  He  said  to  them, 
Shall  Thoda  be  destroyed?  It  is  written: 
A  psalm  of  Thoda  (A.  V.,  A  psalm  of  praise, 
Ps.    c,  superscription).     They    said    to  him : 


WHAT  IT  IS.  ii  J 

Verily,  Thoda  shall  be  destroyed,  for  it  is 
written :  whoso  killeth  Thoda  glorifieth  me. 
(A.  V.,  "  Whoso  offereth  praise  glorifieth 
me,"  Ps.  I.  23.)  ' 

11  Neither  shall  any  plague  come  nigh  thy 
dwelling,'  (Ps.  xci.  10),  means  that  thou 
have  neither  a  son  nor  a  pupil  who  allows  his 
food  to  be  burnt  openly  i.  e.t  who  becomes 
an  apostate  [as  for  instance  Jesus  the  Naza- 
rene].  Tr.  SanJiedrin  fol.  103,  col.  1. 

2.  Stada  and  PANDERA. 2  In  treatise 
Shabbath  fol.  104,  col.  2,  we  read  :  Rabbi 
Eliezer  said  to  the  sages,  Did  not  the  son  of 
Stada  bring  sorcery  from  Egypt  in  a  cut  of 
his  flesh  ?  They  replied,  he  was  a  fool,  and 
fools  cannot  be  used  in  evidence.  [You  call 
him  a  son  of  Stada  ?  he  was  a  son  of  Pan- 
thera.  Rav  Chisda  said :  the  husband  of 
Mary  was  Stada,  but  her  gallant  was  Pandera. 
But  her  husband  was  Papos  ben  Jehuda  ! 
Yes,  but  his  mother  was  Stada.  But  how, 
was  not  his  mother  Mary,  the  hair-dresser  ! 
But  (by  Stada  the  mother  of  Jesus  is  meant 
indeed,  which  name  was  only  her  surname),  as 
they  used  to  say  in  Pumbaditha  :  she  left  her 


1.  This  passage  is  one  of  the  many  curious  examples  of  the  way 
in  which  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  applied  by  the  rabbis,  or  in  the 
words  of  D.  Moore  (art.  Talmud  in  Schaff-Herzog's  Encyclop). 
"  It  is  one  of  the  strangest  specimens  of  transparent  fiction,  and  of 
silly  trifling  with  the  words  of  Scripture." 

2.  That  Panthera  was  said  to  have  been  illegitimately  the  father 
of  Jesus,  was  a  tradition  current  before  the  composition  of  the  Tal- 
mud ;  for,  as  early  as  the  second  century,  Celsus,  against  whom  Or- 
igen  wrote  his  treatise,  introduced  a  Jew,  who  in  speaking  of  the 
mother  of  Jesus,  says  that  '-  when  she  was  pregnant,  she  was 
turned  out  of  doors  by  the  carpenter  to  whom  she  had  been  be- 
trothed, as  guilty  of  adultery,  and  that  she  bore  a  child  to  a  certain 
soldier  named  Panthera."  The  word  "  Panthera,"  or,  as  it  is  writ 
ten  in  the  Talmud  Pandera,  seems  to  have  been  used  in  an  allegor- 
ical sense,  meaning  "  the  son  of  a  wanton,"  tor.  according  to  alle- 
gorical exegesis,  the  faniker  derives  its  name  from  rb  iravvipov, 
thus  signifying  "  the  personification  of  sensuality." 

3.  We  have  followed  the  reading  as  given  by  Levy  in  his  Lexicon 
s.v.  Stada.-  That  Jesus  wrought  miracles  was  a  well-known  (act 
to  his  enemies,  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  and  to  acknowledge 
winch  was  to  acknowledge  His  Messiahship.  \\vn-:r  they  ascribed 
this.  His  power,  to  Satanic  influences,  the  very  same  thing  which 
we  find  in  the  Talmud,  where  the  miracles  of  Jesus  are  said  to  have 


Hg  THE    TALMUD; 

In  Sanhedrin  fol.  67,  col.  1,  we  read  :  [thus 
they  did  with  the  son  of  Stada  at  Lydda  [i.e., 
they  hid  witnesses  who  could  listen  to  his 
heresy  without  being  seen]  and  hung  him  on 
the  eve  of  the  Passover.  You  call  him  a  son 
of  Stada,  etc.,  as  above]. * 

3.  Balaam.  In  treatise  Sanhedrin  fol. 
106,  col.  2,  where  a  Jewish  Christian  asks  R. 
Chanina  concerning  the  age  of  Balaam.  The 
latter  replied  that  nothing  is  written  concern- 
ingly.  Since,  however,  it  is  written  that 
"  bloody  and  deceitful  men  shall  not  live  out 
half  their  days  "  (Ps.  lv.  23),  he  was  33  or  34 
years  old.  You  are  right,  replied  the  Chris- 
tian. I  have  seen  myself  a  chronicle  of  Ba- 
laam, wherein  it  is  written  :  33  years  old  was 
Balaam,  the  lame,  when  he  was  killed  by 
Phinehas,  the  robber. — The  Jewish  lexicog- 
rapher, Levy  {Talmud,  Lexicon  I.,  p.  236),  re- 
marks :  Often  Jesus  is  hidden  under  the  name 
of  Balaam.  According  to  Jewish  tradition 
Jesus  was  lame,  because  he  was  deprived  of' 
his  magic  virtue.  And  the  Jewish  historian 
]ost  (Gese/iic/ite  des  Judenthums  I.  405)  refers 
to  a  remark  of  his  friend  Dr.  Beer,  who 
thinks  that  what  is  said  concerning  Balaam's 
age  [33  years],  no  doubt  refers  to  the  death 
of  Christ,  and  he  finds  this  supposition  the 
more  probable  since  the  murderer  of  Balaam, 
the  robber  Phinehas  [Pinchas  Listai],  is  men- 
tioned, which  name  he  thinks  is  nothing  but 
a  distortion  for  Pontius  Pilate. 

II.     BIRTH    AT    BETHLEHEM  ;  POVERTY    AND 
FLIGHT    INTO    EGYPT. 

Reminiscences  of  the   birth  of    Jesus    at 

been  performed  by  means  ol  sorcery.  But'thisvery  assertion  is  an 
indirect  testimony  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  enemies  of  Jesus  for  the 
authenticity  of  His  miracles. 

1.  We  have   here  a  direct  testimony  that   Jesus  was  innocently 
slain. 


WHAT  IT  IS.  ug 

Bethlehem,  poverty  and  flight  into  Egypt, 
are  given  in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  Berackoth 
fol.  5,  col.  i  (and  a  little  different  in  the  Mid- 
rash  on  Lamentations  I.,  16)  as  follows  :  'Rabbi 
Judan  narrates  :  Whilst  once  a  Jew  was 
ploughing  in  his  field,  his  ox  was  bellowing. 
An  Arab  passing,  and  hearing  the  ox  bellow, 
said,  Son  of  a  Jew,  Son  of  a  Jew,  loose  thy 
oxen,  and  loose  thy  ploughs,  for  the  Temple 
is  laid  waste.  The  ox  bellowed  a  second 
time.  The  Arab  said  to  him,  Son  of  a  Jew, 
Son  of  a  Jew,  yoke  thy  oxen  and  fit  thy 
ploughs,  for  King  Messiah  has  just  been 
born.  But,  said  the  Jew,  what  is  his  name  ? 
Menachem,  said  he.  And  what  is  the  name 
of  his  father?  Hezekiah  (/.  e.,  power  of  God, 
strength  of  God),  *  said  the  Arab.  To  whom 
the  Jew,  But  whence  is  he?  The  other  an- 
swered, from  the  palace  of  the  King  of  Beth- 
lehem-Judah.  Away  he  went,  and  sold  his 
oxen  and  his  ploughs,  and  became  a  seller  of 
infants'  swaddling  clothes.  And  he  went 
about  from  town  to  town  till  he  came  to  that 
place.  There  all  the  women  bought  of  him, 
but  the  mother  of  Menachem  bought  noth- 
ing. He  heard  the  voice  of  the  women  say- 
ing, O  thou  mother  of  Menachem,  thou 
mother  of  Menachem,  come  and  buy  bar- 
gains for  thy  son.  But  she  replied,  I  would 
rather  strangle  the  enemy  of  Israel  [the  child], 
because  on  the  day  that  he  was  born  the 
Temple  was  laid  waste.  To  whom  he  said, 
But  we  trust  that,  as  it  was  laid  waste  at  his 
feet,  so  at  his  feet  it  is  being  built  again.  2 
She  said,  I  have  no  money.  To  whom  he 
replied,  What  matters  it?  Buy  bargains  for 
him,  and  if  you  have  no  money  to-day,  after 


i    Reference  to  the  supernatural  birth  of  the  Messiah. 

2.  "  Behold,  this  child  is  set  for  the  fall  and  rising-  against  of 
many  in  Israel,  and  for  a  sign  which  shall  be  spoken  against,  Luk? 
ii-34-" 


!2o  THE    TALMUD; 

some  days  I  will  come  back  and  receive  it. 
After  some  days  he  returned  to  that  place, 
and  said  to  her,  How  is  the  child  doing? 
And  she  said,  After  the  time  you  saw  me 
last,  winds  and  tempests  came  and  snatched 
him  away  from  me.  * 

That  the  wise  men  had  offered  presents 
was  also  known  to  the  Talmudists  ;  but 
strange  to  say,  they  refer  this  to  a  Messiah 
who  is  to  come.  Thus  we  read  Tr.  Pcsacliim 
fol.  1 1 8,  col.  2  :  "  In  the  future  all  nations 
shall  offer  presents  to  King  Messiah."  Egypt 
comes  first,  and  do  you  think  that  he  will 
not  receive  their  presents  ?  God  says  to 
Messiah  :  "  Accept  them,  for  they  have  hos- 
pitably received  my  children  in  Egypt  [as  is 
said  Ps.  lxviii.  3]  :  Princes  shall  come  out  of 
Egypt-"  Ethiopia  thought  :  if  He  [Messiah] 
accepted  presents  from  the  Egyptians,  who 
ill-treated  the  Israelites,  how  much  more  will 
He  receive  them  from  us,  who  did  not  treat 
them  thus.  The  Holy  One,  blessed  be  He, 
said  to  Him  :  Accept  them,  and  "  Ethiopia 
shall  soon  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God." 
Then  came  the  Ishmaelites  and  said  :  "  When 
He  accepted  presents  from  those  who  were 
not  related  with  them,  how  much  more  will 
He  receive  them  from  us,  their  brethren."  2 

III.  SAYINGS   OF  JESUS. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  the  writings 
of  the  early  church  fathers,  a  number  of  say- 
ings of  Christ  are  extant,  which  are  not  found 
in    the     Gospels.3      Two     very 


1.  This  sudden  disappearance  refers  no  doubt  to  the  flight  into 
Egypt. 

2.  What  is  strange  in  this  narrative,  which  is  also  found  in  the 
Midrash  on  Exodus  xxvi.  15,  is  the  fact  that  the  Kings  of  three 
kingdoms,  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  and of '  Ishuiael,  are  mentioned. 

3.  Comp.  my  Life  of  Jesus  according  to  Extra-Canonical 
Sources  (New  York,  1887),  p.  124,  seq. 


WHA  T  IT  IS.  j  2  ! 

passages,  which  arc  now  no  more  extant  in 
the  Gospels,  arc  found  in  the  Talmud  as 
follows: 

Imma    Salome     was    the     wife    of    Rabbi 
Eliezer   and   the  sister  of  Rabban    Gamaliel. 
There    was,    in    the    neighborhood,   a  Jewish 
Christian,  who  had  the  name  that  he  would 
not    take    a    bribe.     They    wished  to   have  a 
laugh  at  him.     So  she  brought  him  a  golden 
lamp,  and  they  went  before  him.     She  said:  I 
wish  that  they  should  apportion  unto  me  of 
the  property  of  the  family.    He  [the  Christian] 
said  to  them  :     Apportion  it.     [He  Gamaliel] 
said:  We  have  it  written,  "where  there  is  a 
son,  a  daughter  does  not  inherit."     He  [the 
judge]  answered   him:     From   the   day  that 
ye    were   driven   from  your  land   the  law  of 
Moses  was  taken   away,  and  another  law  [or 
rather    "  the    gospel  "   as  in  old  editions  and 
MSS.]   given,  in  which  it  is  written:  the  son 
and  daughter   shall  inherit  alike.     Next  day, 
he   [Gamaliel]  brought  him  a  Libyan  donkey. 
He  [the  judge]  said  to  them:   I  have  looked 
further  on  in  the  book;  and  it  is  written  in  it: 
"I    am    not    come    to    take   from  the  law  of 
Moses,   nor  to  add  to  the  law  of  Moses  am  1 
come."     She    said    to   him  :      "  Let  thy  light 
shine     like     the     lamp."     Rabban    Gamaliel 
said:  The  ass  has  come  and  trodden  out    the 
lamp.    Thus  far  the  story  (in  TwShabbath  fol. 
116,  col.  i  and  2).     The  question  arises:  was 
the  passage— "  the  son  and  the  daughter  shall 
inherit  alike,"   in  the  Gospels  or   not?     That 
it    was    there    cannot    be    questioned,     since- 
the  other   passage    agrees    in   essentials  with 
Matt.    v.    17:     "Think    not    that    I   came  to 
destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets;  I  came  not 
to    destroy,    but    to    fulfil."      From    this    it 
would  seem  that  the  passage  belonged  to  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  which,  however,  can- 
not now  be  decided.     It  may  be  that  the  cita- 


I22  THE   TALMUD; 

tions  here  are  from  one  of  the  recensions  of 
the  Gospels  current  at  the  time,  and  the  pro- 
bability is  that  it  was  the  Gospel  of  Matthew, 
as  we  shall  see  further  on. 

Another  story  runs  thus  :  Rabbi  Eliezer 
(the  same  as  above)  was  seized  on  the  charge 
of  being  a  Christian.  The  judge  said  to  him: 
Thou,  an  aged  man,  busy  thyself  with  such 
idle  matters!  He  replied  :  I  admit  the  faith- 
ful reproof  of  the  judge.  The  latter,  thinking 
that  he  referred  to  him,  whereas  he  really 
meant  God  — said:  Since 'you  trust  me  you 
are  discharged.  He  went  home  deeply  dis- 
tressed, and  would  receive  no  consolation  from 
his  disciples.  Rabbi  !  cried  Aqiba,  allow  me 
to  say  something,  which  I  have  learned  from 
thee.  Say  it,  was  the  reply.  Hast  thou  not 
had  a  dispute  with  a  Christian,  and  by  ap- 
proving what  he  said,  got  thyself  into  trouble  ? 
Aqiba!  said  he,  thou  just  remindest  me  of  a 
certain  incident.  Once  upon  a  time  I  was 
walking  in  the  upper  street  of  Zipporith, 
when  I  met  one  [of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth]  whose  name  was  James,  of  Kepher- 
Sachnia.  *  He  said  to  me  :  "  It  is  written  in 
your  law  thou  shalt  not  bring  the  hire  of  a 
whore  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  thy  God  " 
(Deut.  xxiii.  18).  May  a  water-closet  be  made 
with  it  for  the  high-priest?  This  question  I 
could  not  answer.  Whereupon  he  said  to  me  : 
Jesus  [of  Nazareth]  taught  me  thus  on  the  sub- 
ject. It  is  written,  She  gathered  it  of  the  hire 
of  an  harlot,  and  it  shall  return  to  the  hire  of 
an  harlot  (Micah  I.  7) ;  that  is,  it  came  from  an 
impure  source,  and  it  may  be  applied  to  an 
impure  use.  When  I  heard  this  explanation, 
I  was  pleased  with  it  (Tr.  Aboda  Zara  fol.  17, 
col.  I  and  2). 


1.    The   Jewish    historian    Griitz,   in    his  Gnosticism  and  Judaism, 
p.  25,  note  22,  identifies  him  with  the  Apostle  James. 


WHAT  IT  IS. 


123 


IV.    HEALING   IN  THE    NAME   OF  JESUS. 

That  the  apostles  healed  in  the  name  of 
Jesus,  we  know  from  the  New  Testament. 
The  Talmud,  too,  bears  testimony  to  this 
effect.  Rabbi  Eliezer  ben  Dama,  a  nephew 
of  Rabbi  Ishmael,  having  been  bitten  by  a 
serpent,  James,  of  Kepher-Sachnia,  came  to 
heal  him  [in  the  name  of  Jesus  Pandera]. 
But  Rabbi  Ishmael  would  not  permit  this  to 
be  done.  The  sick  asked  the  uncle  to  allow 
it,  as  he  was  ready  to  prove  from  the  Script- 
ure that  it  was  permitted.  But  before  he 
could  produce  his  argument,  the  sick  man 
died.  "  Happy  Ben  Dama!  "  said  his  uncle, 
"  thou  hast  died  in  purity,  without  violating 
a  precept  of  the  wise." — Talm.  Jerusalem 
Shabbath  xiv.  (toward  the  end),  fol,  I,  col.  4. 
This  much  is  clear,  that  the  apostle  was 
known  to  have  the  power  of  healing  in  the 
name  of  Jesus. 


PART   III. 

THE  TALMUD    AND  THE  GOSPELS. 

The  Talmud  has  been  used  in  the  illustra- 
tion of  the  New  Testament,  by  Lightfoot, 
Schottgen,  Meuschen,  Wettstein,  Gfrorer, 
Robertson,  Nork,  Delitzsch,  Wiinsche.  But 
in  this  department,  also,  its  utility  has  been 
overestimated,  and  by  none  more  than  by 
Lightfoot  himself,  who  says,  in  the  dedica- 
tion prefixed  to  his  Talmudical  exercitations, 
"Christians,  by  their  skill  and  industry,  may 
render  them  [the  Talmiidic  writings]  most 
usefully  serviceable  to  their  students  and 
most  eminently  tending  to  the  interpretations 
of  the  New  Testament."  But  not  so  Isaac 
Vossius,    who     said    Lightfoot   would   have 


I2,  THE  TALMUD; 

sinned  less  by  illustrating  the  Evangelists  from 
the  Koran  than  these  nebula  rabbinicce,  and 
exclaimed:  "  Sit  modus  ineptiendi  et  cessent 
tandem  aliquando  miser]  Christiani  Judaicis 
istiusmodi  fidere  fabellis !  "  [i.  e.,  let  Chris- 
tians at  length  cease  from  playing  the  fool 
and  trusting  to  such  wretched  Jewish  fables 
as  those  contained  in  the  Talmud].  The  mis- 
take of  Lightfoot  is  repeated  by  Wiinsche,  x 
whose  modus  Must r audi  et  interpretandi  is  like 
a  Jew  writing  an  apology  for  Judaism. 

There  are  some  who  accept  the  statement 
of  the  late  Mr.  Deutsch  for  granted  who  said 
"  We  need  not  urge  the  priority  of  the 
Talmud  to  the  New  Testament.  To  assume 
that  the  Talmud  has  borrowed  from  the  New 
Testament  would  be  like  assuming  that 
Sanscrit  sprang  from  Latin,  or  that  French 
was  developed  from  the  Norman  words  found 
in  English."  2  The  same  idea  is  expressed  by 
Renan  3  when  he  says:  "  It  is  sometimes 
supposed  that,  the  compilation  of  the  Talmud 
being  posterior  to  that  of  the  Gospels,  appro- 
priations might  have  been  made  by  the  Jewish 
compilers  from  the  Christian  morality.  But 
that  is  inadmissible  ;  there  was  a  wall  of 
separation  between  the  Church  and  the 
synagogue."  But  this  wall  of  separation  as 
has  been  seen  above,  was  not  so  high  as  to 
preclude  all  and  every  intercourse,  and  the 
notion  that  Christianity  borrowed  from  the 
"  Talmud  is  now  given  up.  Says  Dr.  Geikie  : 
"  There  has  been  of  late  a  tendency  to  exalt 
the  Talmud  at  the  expense  of  the  New 
Testament,  but  let  any  one  take  up  a  transla- 
tion of  any  part  of  it,  and  the  exaggeration 
of    such    an    estimate  will  at  once  be  seen."  * 


i.  Neue    Beitrage  zur   Erlduterung   der    Evangviien,  Giittingen, 

2.  The  'I'nl  in  mi  in  Quarterly  Review^  October,  1878. 

3.  Life  of  Jesus,  p.  108. 

4.  Life  and  Words  0/ Christ  (Nevy  York,  1881)  11.  618. 


WHAT  IT  IS.  l2t 

Another  writer  says :  "It  is  admitted,  too, 
that  the  Talmud  has  borrowed  from  the 
neighbors  of  the  Babylonian  Jews  supersti- 
tious views,  and  practices  notoriously  con- 
trary to  the  spirit  of  Judaism.  Why,  then, 
may  it  not  have  appropriated  Christian  sen- 
timents also?"  l     And  a  third  writer2   says: 

V  Though  the  oral  traditions  of  the  Mishna  and  portions 
of  the  Gemara  were  some  of  them  doubtless  antecedent  to 
the  time  of  Christ  by  many  generations,  yet  it  cannot  be 
proved  in  a  single  instance  where  there  is  identity  of  senti- 
ment between  the  Talmud  and  the  New  Testament,  that 
the  Talmud  did  not  borrow  from  the  New  Testament 
rather  than  the  New  Testament  from  the  Talmud.  It  is 
not  likely  that  an  utterance  as  clear,  condensed,  and  cutting 
as  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  as  given  bv  the  Evangelists, 
was  passed  over  with  inattention  by  the  learned  senate  of 
Jewish  Rabbins.  These  teachings  passed  into  the  commu- 
nity, and  became  an  animating  and  forming  force  in  society  ; 
and  they  must,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  have  acted 
powerfully  on  all  the  existing  schools  of  ethical  and  intel- 
lectual science.  We  find  in  Christ's  discourses  frequent 
allusions  to  the  teachings  of  these  men,  searching  reviews 
and  criticisms  of  their  doctrines.  Much  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  is  a  statement  of  the  errors  in  their  teaching  and 
the  establishment  of  a  higher  code  of  morals.  i  Ye  have 
heard  that  it  hath  been  said  by  them  of  old  time,  etc,;  but  1 
say  unto  you,'  is,  as  we  all  know,  a  frequent  form  of  summary 
in  that  discourse." 

What  has  been  asserted  by  different  writ- 
ers, we  shall  now  prove  by  the  following 
parallels  from  the  Talmud  to  the  Sayings  of 
Jesus,  giving  at  the  same  time  the  name  of 
the  author  who  uttered  the  sentence,  and  the 
time  in  which  he  lived.  The  date  of  the  au- 
thor must  settle  the  question  as  to  the  prior- 
ity once  for  all. 

Sanhedrin  fol.  43,  col.  2:  Rabbi  Josh- 
ua ben  Levi   (a.d.  219-279)    said,   Be- 
Matt.  v.   3  :  hold,  how  acceptable  before  the  Lord 

"Blessed  are  the      are    the    humble.      While   the    temple 
poor  in  spirit."  stood,    meat-offerings     and    sacrifices 

were  offered  in  expiation  for  sins  com- 
mitted, but  an  humble  spirit,  such  a  one 
as  immolates    the  desires   of  the   flesh 

1.  D.  Moore,  art.  Talmud  \n  Schaff-Herzog's  Encycl. 

2.  Atlantic  Monthly  (June,  1868). 


126 


THE    TALMUD: 


Matt.  v.  7  : 
"  Blessed  are  the 
merciful,  for  they 
shall   obtain  mer- 
cy." 

Matt.  v.  io : 
"  Blessed  are  they 
which  are  perse- 
cuted for  right- 
eousness' sake," 
etc. 

Matt.  v.  19: 
"  Whosoever, 
therefore  shall 
break  one  of  these 
least  command- 
ments, "etc. 

Matt.  v.  22  : 
"  But  I  say  unto 
you,    that  whoso- 
ever is  angry  with 
his  brother,  "  etc. 

Matt.  v.  24 : 
"  Leave  thy  gift 
before  the  altar, 
and  go  thy  way; 
first  be  recon- 
ciled," etc. 

Matt.  v.  28  : 
"  But  I  say  unto 
you,  that  whoso- 
ever looketh  on 
a  woman  to  lust 
after  her,  com- 
mitteth  adultery," 
etc. 


Matt.  v.  37 : 
"  But     let      your 
communication, 
be     Yea,     Yea : 

Nay,  Nay." 


Matt.  v.  40  : 
And   take  away 


and  the  inclination  of  the  heart  on  the 
altar  of  his  duty  to  his  God,  is  accepta- 
ble 111  place  of  sacrifices,  as  the  psalm- 
ist says  (li.  19)  : "  The  sacrifices  of  God 
are  a  broken  spirit." 

Shabbath  fol.  151,  col.  2:  Rabban 
Gamaliel  (a.d.  90-1 10)  said:  He  who 
is  merciful  towards  his  fellow-creat- 
ures, shall  receive  mercy  frum  heaven 
above. 

Baba  Kamma  fol.  93,  col.  1  :  Rabbi 
Abahu  (a.  D.  279-320)  said  :  Be  rath- 
er one  of  the  persecuted,  than  of  the 
persecutors. 


Pirke  A  both  n.  i:  Rabbi  (a.  d.  190^ 
said :  Be  equally  attentive  to  the  light 
and  to  the  weighty  'commandment. 


Sanhedrtn  fol.  58,  col.  2  :  Resh  Lak- 
esh  (a.  D.  219-1,80)  said:  Whosoever 
lifts  up  his  hand  against  his  neighbor, 
though  he  do  not  strike  him,  is  called 
an  offender  and  sinner. 

Yomak  ch.  viii.,  a:  Rabbi  Eleazar 
ben  Azariah  (a.  d.  82)  said  :  the  trans- 
gression which  a  man  commits  against 
God,  the  day  of  atonerrent  expiates ; 
but  the  transgression  which  he  com- 
mits against  his  neighbor,  it  does  not 
expiate,  unless  he  has  satisfied  his 
neighbor. 

Berachoth  fol.  24,  col.  1 :  Rabbi  She- 
sheth  (a.  d.  285)  says:  Whosoever 
looketh  on  the  little  finger  of  a  woman 
with  a  lustful  eye  is  considered  as  hav- 
ing committed  adultery. 


Baba  Metzia  fol.  49,  col.  1 :  Rabbi 
Jose  berabbi  Jehudah  (a.  d.  100-170) 
explains :  What  is  the  meaning  of 
(Lev.  xix.  36):  Just  balances,  just 
weights,  a  just  ephah,  and  a  just  hin, 
since  a  hin  was  included  in  the  ephan. 
To  teach  that  your  Vea  be  Yea,  and 
your  Nay  be  just.  Abaye  says  this 
means  that  one  should  not  say  one 
thing  with  the  mouth  and  another  with 
the  heart. 

Baba  Kamma  fol.  92,  col.  2:  Rabba 
(a.  d.  320-363)  said  to  Rabba  the  son 


WJ/A  T  IT  IS. 


127 


thy  coat  let  him 
have  thy  cloak  al- 
so." 

Matt.  v.  44  r 
"  Bless   them  that 
curse  you." 

Matt.  vi.  1  : 
"  Take  heed  that 
ye  do  not  your 
alms  before  men 
to  be  seen  of 
them." 


Matt.   vi.  9 : 
"Our      Father 
which  art  in  heav- 


Matt.vi.  19-21 : 
"  Lay  not  up  for 
yourselves  treas- 
ures upon  earth, 
where  moth  and 
rust  doth  corrupt, 
and  where  thieves 
break  through  and 
steal ;  but  lay 
up  for  yourselves 
treasures  in  heav- 
en," etc. 


of  Mar,  How  is  that  popular  saying  ? 
If  any  one  ask  for  thy  ass,  give  him  the 
saddle  also. 

Sanhedrin  fol.  48,  col.  2  :  49,  col.  1  : 
Rabbi  Jehudah  (a.  d.  120)  said  :  Be 
rather  of  the  accursed  than  of  those 
that  curse. 

Chagiga  fol.  5,  col.  1  :  Rabbi  Yana'i 
(a.  d.  120)  said  to  a  man  who  gave 
alms  in  such  a  public  manner:  You 
had  better  not  give  him  anything  :  in 
the  way  you  gave  it  to  him  you  must 
have  hurt  his  feelings. 

This  expression,  which  is  found  twice 
in  the  Mishna  ( Yoma  viii.  9,  and  Sotah 
ix.  15),  is  certainly  taken  from  the  New 
Testament  since  the  two  rabbis  who 
use  this  phrase  lived  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple.  Gfrorer,  says  Gei- 
kie  (/.  c.  n  p.  619),  who  took  special 
pains  to  search  for  the  Lord's  Prayer 
in  the  Talmud,  found  that  it  could  not 
be  traced  in  any  measure  to  older  Jew- 
ish sources.  Edersheim  {Life  and 
Times  of  Jesus  1.  536)  says  :  "  It  would 
be  folly  to  deny  that  the  Lord's  Pray- 
er, in  its  sublime  spirit,  tendency,  com- 
bination and  succession  of  petitions,  is 
unique ;  and  that  such  expressions  in 
it  as  '  Our  Father,'  '  the  kingdom,' 
'  forgiveness,'  '  temptation,'  and  others, 
represent  in  Rabbinism  something  en- 
tirely different  from  that  which  our 
Lord  had  in  view." 

Jems  Peak  I.  3,  we  read  Mone- 
bazus,  the  friend  of  Izates,  Prince  of 
Adiabene  on  the  Tigris,  a  convert, 
with  his  prince  to  Judaism,  about  the 
time  of  the  death  of  Christ,  figures 
largely  in  the  Talmud.  After  wild  ex- 
aggeration of  his  wealth,  the  narra- 
tive goes  on  to  say  that  his  brothers 
and  friends  came  to  him  and  said, 
"  Thy  fathers  gathered  treasures  and 
added  to  the  treasures  of  their  fath- 
ers, but  thou  scatterest  them."  He 
answered  them,  "  My  fathers  had  their 
treasures  below,  and  I  lay  them  up 
above,  my  fathers  had  their- treasures 
where  the  hands  (of  men)  may  lay  hold 
of  them,  I,  where  no  hand  can  do  so. 
My  father's  treasures  yield  no  fruit, 
but  I  collect  what  gives  fruit.  My 
fathers  stored  away  mammon,  I,  treas- 
ures of  the  soul :  my  fathers  did  it  for 


128 


THE  TALMUD 


others,  I  for  myself.  My  fathers  gath- 
ered them  for  the  world,  I,  for  the 
world  to  come." 


Matt.  vi.  26: 
"  Behold  the  fowls 
of  the  air,  for  they 
sow    not,    neither 
do  they  reap,"  etc. 


Matt.  vi.  31-34 : 
"  Therefore  take 
no  thought,  say- 
ing, What  shall 
we  eat?  or  what 
shall  we  drink  ?  " 
etc. 

Matt.  vii.  2  : 
"  For   with    what 
judgment  ye 

judge,  ve  shall  be 
judged." 

Matt.  vii.  2  : 
"  With  what  mea- 


KiddusJun  fol.  82,  col.  2  :  Rabbi 
Simon  ben  Eleazar  (3d.  century)  said: 
Hast  thou  ever  seen  a  beast  or  a  bird 
that  followed  a  trade,  "  and  yet  they 
are  fed  without  toil.  But  these  were 
only  created  to  minister  to  me,  while 
I  was  created  to  minister  to  my  Maker. 
Was  it  not  right,  then,  that  I  should  be 
supported  without  toil  ?  But  I  have 
marred  my  work  and  forfeited  my 
support."  * 

Sotd.  fol.  48,  col.  2  :  Rabbi  Eliezer 
(of  whom  we  have  spoken  already  be- 
fore, and  who  had  intercourse  with  the 
apostle  James)  saith :  He  who  hath 
still  bread  in  his  basket  and  saith  what 
shall  I  eat  to-morrow,  belongeth  to 
those  of  little  faith. 

Shabbath  fol.  127,  col.  2:  The  post 
Mishnaic  teachers  said  :  he  that  judges 
his  neighbor  charitably,  is  himself 
judged  charitably. 

Sanhedrm  fol.  100,  col.  r.:  Rabbi 
Meir    (2d.    cent.)    said:    With    what 


1.  Prof.  Delitzsch  in  his  Jiidisches  Handwerkerleben  (Engl, 
transl.  by  Pick,  Jeivis/i  Artisan  Life,  New  York,  1883)  quotes  this 
passage  in  the  following  connection.  We  quote  from  our  transla- 
tion p.  23,  seq.:  "  A  learned  Jew,  Emmanuel  Deutsch,  of  the  British 
Museum,  published  in  1867  in  the  Quarterly  Rez>ie7t>,  an  article  on 
the  Talmud,  in  which  he  endeavored  to  show  that  between  Judaism 
and  Christianity  no  such  wide  difference  exists  as  is  generally  be- 
lieved since  most  of  the  pithy  sayings  and  parables  of  the  New 
Testament  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  the  original  property  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  impression  produced  by  this  essay  was  all  the 
deeper,  the  less  able  most  of  the  readers  were  to  compare  the  New 
Testament  with  this  its  glorification.  ...  It  would  be  very  easy  to 
demonstrate  that  the  author  has  no  idea  of  the  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity. .  .  .  that  the  records  of  Christianity  are  so  much  older  than 
their  Talmudic  parallels."  After  quoting  the  passage  quoted  above 
from  the  Talmud  together  with  Matt.  vi.  26,  Prof.  Delitzsch  goes  on  : 
"  Herr  Deutsch  draws  many  such  parallels,  avoiding  with  proud 
air  the  question  of  priority,  as  if  it  could  not  be  raised  at  all.  For 
when  did  this  Simon  live  ?  He  lived  in  the  time  of  Emperor  Adrian, 
full  nigh  a  century  later  than  Jesus.  We  will  not,  of  course,  insist 
on  that  account  that  he  had  drawn  his  maxim  either  direct  from  the 
gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  which  was  current  in  the  Hebrew  language, 
or  indirectly  from  Christian  lips  ;  but  if  there  is  such  a  real  coinci- 
dence, it  is  evident  here,  as  in  almost  any  other  case,  that  the  say- 
ing of  Jesus  is  the  original  and  that  of  Simon  the  copy.  We  say  in 
al»iost  any  other  case,  but  we  might  just  as  well  say  in  all  cases; 
for  with  the  exception  of  Hillel,  all  Talmudical  teachers  whose 
maxims  correspond  to  the  words  of  the  New  Testament  are  of  a  far 
later  date  than  Jesus  and  the  records  of  Christianity." 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


129 


sure  ye  mete  it 
shall  be  measured 
to  you  again." 


Matt.  vii.  4: 
"  Let  me  pull  out 
the    mote    out   of 
thine  eye." 


Matt.  vii.  5  : 
"  Thou  hypocrite, 
first  cast  out  the 
beam  out  of  thine 
own  eye,  and  then 
shalt  thou  see,  " 
etc. 

Matt.  vii.  12  : 
"  Therefore  all 
things  whatso- 
ever ye  would  that 
men  should  do  to 
you,  do  ye  even  so 
to  them ;  for  this 
is  the  law  and  the 
prophets." 


measure  man  metes  it  shall  be  meas- 
ured to  him  from  heaven. 

Baba  Bathra  fol.  15,  col.  2  :  Rabbi 
Johanan  (a.d.  199-279)  surnamed  Bar 
Kapha  said :  Do  they  say,  Take  the 
splinter  out  of  thine  eye,  he  will  an- 
swer: Remove  the  beam  out  of  thine 
own  eye. 

Arachin  fol.  16,  col.  2  :  Rabbi  Tar- 
phon  (a.d.  120)  says  : 

It  would  greatly  astonish  me  if  there 
could  be  found  any  one  in  this  age 
who  would  receive  an  admonition. 
If  he  be  admonished  to  take  the  splin- 
ter out  of  his  eye,  he  would  answer : 
Take  the  beam  out  of  thine  own. 

Baba  Metzia  fol.  107,  col.  2 :  Baba 
Bathra  fol.  60,  col.  2.  Resh  Lakesh 
(a.d.  275)  said,  What  is  the  meaning 
of  the  passage,  Examine  thyself  and 
search?  (Zeph.  ii.  11).  He  who  will 
reprove  others  must  himself  be  pure 
and  spotless. 

Shabbath  fol.  3,  col.  r:  What  is 
hateful  to  thyself,  thou  shalt  not  do  to 
thy  neighbor.  This  is  the  whole  law, 
and  the  rest  is  commentary. 


This  is  the  much  praised  answer  attrib- 
uted to  Hillel,  and  which  induced  writers 
like  Renan,  Geiger,  Deutsch,  and  the  like  to 
make  Jesus  an  imitator  of  Hillel.  But  aside 
from  the  consideration,  that  Hillel  cannot  be 
claimed  as  the  original  author  of  this  say- 
ing,1 we  must  bear  in  mind  the  wide  interval 
between  the  merely  negative  rule  of  the  Jew- 
ish president,  and  the  positive  precept  of  the 
divine  master.  As  to  the  saying  itself,  it 
existed  long  before  Hillel's  time,  "and  the 


1.  Jost.  (Gesch.  d.Judenthums  u.  s.  Sekten  I.  p.  259)  says,  that  the 
sentence  which  Hillel  uttered,  was  one  which  was  already  known 
to  everybody,  and  Farrar  (History  of  Interpretation  p.  50)  thinks 
it  possible  that  the  later  Rabbis  in  attributing  this  saying  to  Hillel 
were  lighting  their  torches  at  the  sun  which  yet  they  cursed. 


130 


THE  TALMUD; 


fact  that  he  in  particular  used  it,  accordingly 
loses  much  of  its  significance,  and  any  super- 
structure based  upon  the  assumption  that  he 
invented  it  falls  to  the  ground."1  Thus  Di- 
ogenes Laertius  relates  that  Aristotle  (died 
after  322  B.C.)  being  asked  how  we  ought  to 
conduct  ourselves  towards  our  friends  an- 
swered :  "  As  we  would  wish  they  would 
carry  themselves  toward  us."  And  Isoerates, 
who  lived  400  years  before  the  publication 

of  the  gospel,  said  :  a  -acxovreq  i<(j>  e-tptcv  bpyiosade 
rdvra  rolg  alloiq  p)  itoilire,  (i.  e.  "  we  must  not  do  to 

others  that  which  would  cause  anger  if.it 
were  done  to  ourselves.")  In  his  Ad.  Demo- 
nic, c.  4,  he  says :  "  Be  such  towards  your 
parents  as  thou  shalt  pray  thy  children  shall 
be  towards  thyself;"  and  the  same,  In 
Aeginet.  c.  23  :  "  That  you  would  be  such 
judges  to  me  as  you  would  desire  to  obtain 
for  yourselves."  Even  among  the  sayings 
of  Confucius,  the  golden  rule  of  the  Saviour, 
which  Locke  designates  as  the  foundation  of 
all  social  virtue,  this  maxim  is  found  in  the 
negative  form  :  "  What  you  do  not  wish 
done  to  yourselves,  do  not  to  others  ;  "  or, 
as  in  the  Conversations  (book  xv.  c.  23) 
where  it  appears  condensed  like  a  telegram  : 
ki  su  pok  ilk  uk  sic  u  ing,  i.  e,,  "  Self  what  not 
wish,  not  do  to  man."  In  the  apocryphal 
book  of  Tobit  we  read  (ch.  iv.  15)  :  6 /uoeis, 
tujdevl  Tzoiyom  (i.  e.  "  do  that  to  no  man  which 
thou  hatest")2    and  in   Ecclus.  xxxi.   15,  we 

read  :    vdet  ra  rov  irfo/oiov  ml  ettI  Trpayfiari  diavoov   \l.    e., 

11  Judge   of    the  disposition  of  thy  neighbor 
by  thyself.") 


1.  Taylor,  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  * Apost  les  (Cambridge,  1886), 

'2.  It  is  surprising  that  such  an  able  scholar  as  Dr.  Bacher  (Die 
Asrada  der  Tanaiten,  Strassburg,  1884)  should  write  :  As  is  known, 
the  book  of  Tobit  perused  the  sentence  of  Hillel  (*"  bekannthch  be- 
nutzt  auch  das   Buch  Tobit  den  Satz  Hillels.  ")  p.  7. 


IVIIA  T  IT  IS. 


131 


Pirke  Aboth  iii.    17  :    Rabbi  Eliezer 

ben  Azariah    (about     A.p.    82)    said: 

He    whose    knowledge    surpasses    his 

good    deeds    may  be   compared    to    a 

tree  with  many  branches  and   a  scanty 

root — every  wind  shakes  and   uproots 

it.     But    he    whose  good  deeds   excel 

his  knowledge  may  be  compared  to  a 

tree  with  a  few  branches    and    strong 

roots:    if    all  the    hurricanes    of    the 

Matt,   vii.,    24-      world  should  come  and  storm   against 

27  :      "  Therefore      it,    they  would    not  move  it    from    its 

whosoever     hear-      place. 

eth  these  sayings  Aboth  di   A'abba  Nathan,  ch.   xxiv. : 

of   mine,  and  do-      Elisha    ten-Abuyah    (about  A.D.    138) 
eth    them,    I   will      said:  A  man  who  studies  the  law,  and 
liken  him  unto  a      acts  in  accordance  with  its  command- 
wise    man    which      ments,    is    likened    unto    a    man    who 
built     his     house      builds  a  house  the  foundation  of  which 
upon  a  rock,"  etc.      is   made  of  freestone,  and  the  super- 
structure of  bncks.     Storm  and  flood 
cannot  injure  the  house.     But  he  who 
studies  the  law,  but  is  destitute  of  good 
actions,  is  likened  unto  the  man  who 
builds  the  foundation  of  his  house   of 
brick  and  mortar  and  raises  the  upper 
stories   with   solid   stone.     The    flood 
will  soon  undermine  and  overturn  the 
house. 

Shabbath    fob    153,    col.     I  :     Rabbi 
Johanan  ben  Zacchai  (fl.  after  the   de- 
struction of  the  Temple)  said  :    It    is 
like  a  king  who  invited    his  servants 
to  a  banquet,  but  did  not  appoint  the 
time.     The  wise  among  them  adorned 
themselves,    and     waited    at    the    en- 
trance   of    the  King's   palace,  saying : 
can  there  be  anything  wanting  at  the 
Matt.  xxv.  1 -14:      King's  house   [which  may    delay    the 
parable  OF  THE      banquet]  ?     But    the     foolish    among 
ten  virgins.  them    went    after  their  work,  saying  : 

can  there  be  a  banquet  without  prep- 
aration? Suddenly  the  king  asked  for 
his  servants,  when  the  wise  among 
them  entered  adorned,  but  the  foolish 
came  into  his  presence  soiled.  The 
King  rejoiced  to  meet  the  wise  ser- 
vants, but  was  angry  with  the  foolish 
servants.  Let  those,  said  he,  who 
have  adorned  themselves  for  the  ban- 
quet sit  down  to  eat  and  drink,  but 
let  those  who  have  not  adorned  them- 
selves for  the  banquet  stand  and  look- 
on. 


132 


THE   TALMUD; 


Matt,  ix,  y]  : 
"The        harvest 
truly     is     plente- 
ous, but  the  labor- 
ers are  few,"  etc. 

Matt.  x.  8 : 
"  Freely  ye    have 
received,       freely 
give." 

Matt,  xxiii.  12  . 
"  and  whosoever 
shall  exalt  him- 
self shall  be 
abased ;  and  he 
that  shall  hum- 
ble himself  shall 
be  exalted." 

Mark  ii.    27  : 
"  The        Sabbath 
was      made      for 
man,  and  not  man 

for  the  Sabbath." 


Pirke  Aboth  ii.  15:  Rabbi  Tarphon 
(about  a.d.  120)  said,  The  day  is 
short,  and  the  task  is  great,  and  the 
workmen  are  sluggish,  and  the  reward 
is  great,  and  the  Master  of  the  -house 
is  urgent. 

Nedarim  fol.  47,  col.  1  :  Samuel 
(d.  A.D.  257):  Behold  I  have  taught 
you  statutes  and  judgments,  even  as 
the  Lord  my  God  commanded  me 
(Deut  iv.  5).  As  I  have  taught  you 
freelv,  so  teach   you  freely. 

Balm  Metziah  fol.  85,  col.  2 :  Rab- 
bi Jeremiah  ( -f  A.D.  250)  said  :  Who- 
ever makes  himself  little  in  this  world, 
for  the  sake  of  the  words  of  the  Law 
will  be  made  great  in  the  world  to 
come,  and  whoever  makes  himself 
like  a  slave  in  this  world,  for  the  sake 
of  the  words  of  the  Law,  will  be 
made  free  in  the  world  to  come. 

Yoma  fol.  85,  col.  2.  Rabbi  Jon- 
athan ben  Joseph  (fl.  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple)  says  :  it  is  written  : 
Ye  shall  keep  the  Sabbath  therefore, 
for  it  is  holy  unto  you  (Exod.  xxxi., 
14).  It  is  delivered  into  your  power, 
not  you  into  its. 


Without  increasing  parallels,  it  will  be 
evident  that  the  claim  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment copied  the  Talmud  must  accordingly 
be  stigmatized,  once  for  all,  as  a  vain  glori- 
fication of  modern  Judaism,  which,  on  the 
one  hand  rejects  the  Talmud  as  a  religious 
code,  but,  on  the  other,  makes  use  of  it  for 
controversial  purposes. 

THE    TALMUD'S    TESTIMONY    CON- 
CERNING THE  CHRISTIANS 
AND  CHRISTIANITY. 

It  is  now  admitted  by  Jewish  writers  that 
the  word  min   (pi.   minim),  l   so  often   men- 


,  Out  of  fear  for  the  censor  the  word  Sadduki  was  substituted 
espe<  ially  in  the  Babylonian  Talmud.  But  after  the  destruction  of 
the  Temple  the  Sadducees  disappeared  entirely. 


WHAT  IT  IS.  j 33 

tioned   in  the  Talmud,  denotes    the    Chris- 
tians, while  minuth  means  Christianity. 

I.  STUDY  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES  BY  THE 
CHRISTIANS.— That  the  Christians  studied  the 
Scriptures  is  best  illustrated  by  the  follow- 
ing :  Rabbi  Abahu  recommended  Rabbi 
Saphra  to  the  Christians  as  a  good  scholar. 
Thereupon  the  Christians  remitted  him  the 
taxes  for  thirteen  years.  But  it  happened 
that  one  day  Rabbi  Saphra  was  asked  to 
give  an  explanation  of  Amos  iii.  2  :  "  '  You 
only  have  I  known  of  all  the  families  of  the 
earth  ;  therefore  I  will  punish  you  for  all  your 
iniquities,'  "  adding,  "  How  can  you  suppose 
God  to  vent  his  wrath  on  one  whom  he 
addresses  as  his  friend  ? "  Rabbi  Saphra 
was  unable  to  reply.  The  Christians  then 
took  him,  and  tied  a  rope  round  his  head, 
and  tormented  him.  When  Rabbi  Abahu 
came  and  found  him  in  this  plight,  he  de- 
manded of  the  Christians :  "  Why  do  you 
torment  this  Rabbi  so  cruelly?"  They 
replied,  "  Did  you  not  tell  us  that  he  was  a 
very  learned  man?  To  the  first  question 
we  asked  of  him  he  was  unable  to  make  any 
answer."  "I  did,  indeed,  say,"  answered 
Rabbi  Abahu,  "  that  he  was  a  good  scholar 
in  the  Talmud,  but  not  in  the  Scriptures." 
"  But  how  is  it  that  you  understand  the 
Scriptures  and  he  does  not  ?  "  To  this  Rabbi 
Abahu  answered  :  "  We,  who  come  in  con- 
tact with  you  Christians  are  obliged,  for  our 
self-preservation,  to  study  the  Scriptures  ; 
because  you  dispute  so  often  with  us  from 
the  Scriptures,  and  because  we  know  that 
you  study  them  ;  but  the  other  Jews,  who 
live  among  Gentiles,  have  no  need  of  that, 
as  they  do  not  dispute  with  them  concern- 
ing the  Scriptures."  '—What  a  gloomy  pict- 


AbodaZarak  lol,  4,  col.  1. 


Ig^  THE  TALMUD; 

ure  !  The  Jews  read  the  Bible,  not  because 
they  are  concerned  about  the  "  one  thing 
needful,"  but  only  for  the  sake  of  contro- 
versy. As  another  illustration  of  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  Christians  with  the  Script- 
ures, we  quote  the  following  :  "  The  disci- 
ples asked  Rabbi  Aqiba  whether,  in  case 
that  the  lot  appointed  the  goat  which 
stood  on  the  left  of  the  priest,  for  a  sacrifice 
in  the  Temple,  the  position  of  the  goats 
should  be  changed?  He  replied:  'Give  the 
Christians  no  occasion  for  assailing  us ;  ■  1 
or,  as  Rashi  explains  it :  '  To  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  who  discourse  concern- 
ing the  Scriptures,  that  they  do  not  say  you 
(Jews)  act  arbitrarily.'  "  2 

2.  CIRCULATION  OF  THE  GOSrELS.— That 
the  gospels  and  other  writings  of  the 
Christians  were  in  circulation  at  an  early 
time,  we  see  from  the  many  enactments  of 
the  Jewish  rabbis  against  them.  At  the 
time  that  the  rules  for  keeping  the  Sabbath 
were  under  consideration,  it  was  asked  in 
the  schools  whether,  if  the  gospels  and 
other  books  of  the  Christians  should  happen 
to  fall  into  the  fire,  it  would  be  permissible 
to  rescue  them  from  the  fire,  inasmuch  as 
the  name  of  God  was  written  in  them,  and 
they  contained  numerous  quotations  from 
the  Old  Testament.  "The  Gospels  and  the 
other  books  of  the  Christians  are  not  to  be 
rescued  from  the  fire."  Rabbi  Jose  said 
that  the  names  of  God  should,  by  all  means, 
be  rescued,  and  the  remainder  thrown  back 
into  the  flames.  Said  Rabbi  Tarphon  :  "  By 
the  life  of  my  son,  should  they  come  into 
mine  hands  I  will  burn  them  together  with 
the    names   of    God    which    they   contained. 


i.  Varna  fol.  40,  col.  a.  „...,,./.  .    ,, 

2.  L.c.  Venice  Edition  ;  quoted  by  Goldfahn  in  Craetz    Monats- 
schri/t,  1873,  p.  109. 


WHA  T  JT  IS. 


*35 


Were  I  pursued  by  a  serpent,  I  would 
rather  take  refuge  in  a  temple  of  idols  than 
in  the  house  of  the  Christians  ;  for  the  latter 
were  wilful  traitors,  while  the  heathen 
sinned  in  ignorance  of  the  right  way,  and 
concerning  them  the  Scripture  says :  '  Be- 
hind the  doors,  also,  and  the  posts,  hast 
thou  set  up  thy  remembrance.'  (Isa.  lvii. 
8)."1  Rabbi  Ishmael  said  "  The  question 
is  not  one  which  should  give  us  any  trouble 
to  answer.  If,  in  order  to  make  peace  be- 
tween two  persons,  the  Law  permitted  the 
complete  effacement  of  a  passage  of  Holy- 
Scripture  in  which  the  name  of  God  has 
been  most  solemnly  invoked  (Numb.  v.  23), 
why  should  we  deal  gingerly  with  the  writ- 
ings of  these  people,  who  are  sowing  hatred, 
hostility  and  discord  between  Israel  and  his 
Heavenly  Father.  And,  as  we  do  not  res- 
cue them  from  flames,  so  not  from  the  sud- 
den falling  of  a  building,  or  from  rushing 
waters,  or  aught  else  that  may  accomplish 
their  ruin."  2  According  to  Rabbi  Aqiba 
those  have  no  portion  in  the  world  to  come 
who  read  in  outside  books,  i.  e.,  books  of  the 
minim  or  Christians  (as  the  text  of  the 
Mishna  is  explained  in  the  Gemara).  3 

Whatever  may  be  the  date  assigned  by 
modern  critics  to  the  Gospel  of  Matthew, 
certain  it  is  that  it  circulated  in  some  form 
at  a  very  early  date,  as  will  be  seen  from 
the  following:  Gamaliel  II.  (died  about  the 
year  no  a.d.)  was  asked:  "  How  do  you 
know  that  the   dead  will  rise  again  ? "     He 

1  This  his  animosity  against  Christianity,  induced  some,  an 
Lightfoot,  Carpzov,  and  others,  to  maintain  that  Rabbi  Tirphon 
is  the  same  Typho  who  is  the  interlocutor  in  Justm  Martyr's 
Dialogue.  Schurer  {NeutestainentlicheZeitgeschichte^  zd  ed.  vol.  ii. 
p.  312)  thinks  this  identity  to  be  possible. 

2.  Skabbath  fol.  116,  col.  i.  conf.  Bacher,  Die  Agadader  Tannai~ 
ten  p.  266. 

3.  SanhedrinioX.  ioo,  col.  2.;  conf.  also  Joel,  Blicke  in  die  Re- 
ligionsgeschichte  zu  Anfang  des  Zweiten  Christlichen  Jahrhun- 
derts  (Breslau,  1880)  p.  70  seq. 


I36  THE   TALMUD; 

adduced  passages  in  proof  of  the  Resur- 
rection from  the  Law  (Deut.  xxxi.  16),  the 
prophets  (Isa.  xxvi.  19),  and  the  Hagiogra- 
pha  (Song  of  Songs,  vii.  10.  A.P.  9).  These 
passages  were  rejected  as  insufficient.  He 
finally  quoted  the  words  "  the  land  which 
the  Lord  sware  unto  your  fathers  to  give 
them"  (Deut.  xi.  21).  Since  the  fathers 
were  dead,  the  promise  must  have  promised 
a  resurrection,  when  alone  the  land  could 
be  given  to  these  fathers.  x  This  shows  the 
force  of  the  interpretation  given  by  Christ  in 
Matt.  xxii.  32  ("  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham, 
and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob ! 
God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the 
living  "),  and  the  inference  he  deduced  there- 
from. 

Another  proof  for  the  early  existence  of 
Matthew's  Gospel  may  be  derived  from  a 
quotation  made  by  Eliezer  (conf.  Matt.  vi. 
30-34  above),  Gamaliel's  brother-in-law. 

3.  POWER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRIS- 
TIANITY.— The  power  and  influence  of 
Christianity  is  best  attested  by  the  Talmud 
when  we  read  :  "  It  is  different  with  Chris- 
tianity; it  attracts."  2     In  order  to  break   its 


1.  Sanhedrin  fol.  go.  col.  2. 

2.  Talmud  Aboda  Zarah  fol.  27,  col.  2.  As  an  illustration  we 
quote  the  following  as  related  in  the  Midrask  on  Ecclesiastes  1.  8 : 
Rabbi  Hanina,  nephew  of  Rabbi  Joshua,  went  to  Capernaum  ;  and 
the  Christians  bewitched  him,  and  made  him  ride  into  the  town  on 
an  ass  upon  the  Sabbath.  When  he  returned  to  his  uncle.  Rabbi 
Joshua  gave  him  an  unguent  which  healed  him  from  the  bewitch- 
ment. But  Joshua  said  to  him  :  "  Since  you  have  heard  the  bray- 
ing of  the  ass  of  that  wicked  one,  you  can  no  longer  remain  on  the 
soil  of  Israel."  Hanina  went  down  to  Babylon,  and  there  died  in 
peace.  Dr,  Farrar,  who  quotes  this  story  (Expositor  vol.  vi.  1877, 
p.  423)  says  :  The  expression  '  the  ass  of  that  wicked  one  '  is  only 
too  plainly  and  sadly  an  allusion  to  the  ass  ridden  by  our  Lord  in 
his  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem  ;  and  the  suppression  of  the 
name  of  Jesus  is  in  accordance  with  the  practice  of  only  mention- 
ing Him  in  an  oblique  and  cryptographic  manner.— Lowe  (Frag- 
ment of  Talmud  £aldi\  Cambridge,  1879,  p.  71)  translated  for 
"  ass  "  wine—VR  the  Talmud  both  words  have  one  expression— and 
thinks  that  the  Christians  intoxicated  him  with  the  wine  of  their 
agapat,  which  they  seem  to  have  celebrated  on  Friday  night. 
More  probable,  perhaps,  is  the  meaning  of  Delitzsch,  {Bin  Tag  in 
Capernaum,  p.  25,  Leipsic,  1873)  who  says  that  the  "  ass  of  that 
wicked  "  refers  to  the  foolish  preaching  of  the  crucified. 


Jf'HA  T  IT  IS.  t ,  - 

influence  and   to    check    its    growth,   shortly 
before    the    destruction    of     Jerusalem,     the 
first  formal  anathema  was  hurled   by  the   en- 
tire   Rabbinic    assembly,    which   had   met   at 
Jamnia   or    Jabneh,    under    the    auspices    of 
Gamaliel  II.     Thus  the   great    Rabbi   Maim- 
onidessays:  "  In  the  days   of  Rabbi   Gama- 
liel   (the    elder)  '    the    minim     increased    in 
Israel,  and  afflicted  Israel,  and  seduced  men 
to  turn    away    from    God.      Then    when    he 
saw  that  it  was  indispensably  necessary,  he 
instituted  that  imprecation  in  which    God  is 
besought    that    the    minim    should    be    de- 
stroyed, and  added  it  to    the   eighteen   pray- 
ers, so  that  the  whole  number  now  found  in 
the    Prayer    Book    is    nineteen.  2     Thus   far 
Maimonides.      From   the    Talmud    we   learn 
the  history  of  the  prayer  which  is  as  follows : 
Simon   Pakuli    arranged   the   eighteen   bene- 
dictions  before    Rabban    Gamaliel    in    their 
present    order    at    Jabneh.      Said     Rabban 
Gamaliel  to   the  sages,  "  Is  there   none  who 
knows  to  prepare  a  benediction  against  the 
Zadukim  ?  "     Then   arose  Samuel  the  Little 
and   prepared   it.  3  This  prayer,  which    now 
forms  the  twelfth  of  the   so-called  Shemone 
Esreh,  or  Eighteen   Benedictions,  reads  now, 
"  O  let  the  slanderers  have  no  hope  ;  all  the 
wicked    be  annihilated  speedily  and  all  the 
tyrants    be    cut    off    quickly,    humble    thou 
them  quickly  in  our  days.     Blessed  art  thou, 
O,  Lord!  who  destroyest  enemies  and  hum- 
blest tyrants."      We   doubt  very  much  that 
this  was  the  original  form   of  the  prayer,  be- 
cause the  following  is  also  found  :  "  Be   thou 
not  a  hope  to   the   meshumadim  (apostates), 
but   may   the    minim,    the  doubled-tongued, 


.J>I^W:J/n0t^molieJthe,elder  (Conybeare  and  Howson,  Life 
K  oSi'hSJ!  rSL  Wito1"'-  P-  ^  hut  as  is  now  generally  held, 
his  grandson,  Gamaliel  II.,  who  sanctioned  that  prayer 

2,  Hilcoth   Tephilla  c.  n.  3.  Berachoth  fol.  28,  col    2 


138 


THE  TALMUD; 


the  infidels,  the  traitors  perish  together  in  a 
moment ;  may  the  enemies  of  thy  people 
Israel  be  speedily  annihilated  ;  mayest  thou 
speedily  destroy  the  Kingdom  of  Pride  and 
rend  it  in  pieces  ;  mayest  thou  humble  them 
speedily  in  these  our  days.  Blessed  art 
thou,  O,  God,  for  thou  shalt  break  into  frag- 
ments the  wicked,  and  humble  the  proud."  r 
Whatever  the  form  of  the  so-called  Birkath 
h'a-minim — as  it  is  called — may  have  been, 
its  existence  is  attested  by  Epiphanius,2  who 
says  that  the  Jews  three  times  during  the 
day  curse  and  excommunicate  (the  Naza- 
renes.)  The  same  we  also  learn  from 
Jerome  3  and  Justin  the  Martyr/ 

In  spite  of  all  stringent  measures  the  num- 
ber of  believers  increased.  As  many  cher- 
ished the  Christian  faith  in  secret,  it  was 
enacted  that  in  a  case  a  reader  erred  in  one 
of  the  benedictions,  he  was  not  to  be  re- 
moved from  the  reading-desk,  but  in  case  he 
erred  in  the  benediction  against  the  minim, 
he  was  to  be  removed,  because  he  was  then 
suspected  of  being  a  min  himself.5 


i.  Quoted  from  Reichardt  ( The  Relation  of  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians to  the  Jews  in  the  First  and  Second  Centuries,  London,  1884, 
p.  46.)  who  says  that  he  copied  it  from  an  old  manuscript. 

2.  Advers  Haeres  xxix.  9  (ed.  Petav.  p.  124):  rpi?  T^  yftepat 
ore  evpar  iiriTklovGLV  iavrolg  ev  Talc  avvayuyalq  k-rrapiovrat 
avrolr,  koX  avadefiariZovoi  Tplr  rfc  r/fitpar  (pdcKOvrer  on 
kntnardpam  dear  rove  Wafapaiovr.  With  regard  to  these  words 
of  Epiphanius,  the  Jewish  historian  Gratz  (Geschichte  iv.  434,) 
remarks  that  Epiphanius,  being  by  birth  a  Jew,  is  a  competent 
witness  that  this  formula  was  directed  against  the  Jewish  Chris* 
tians. 

3.  Ad  Jesajam  5,  18-19  (ed.  Vallarsi  iv.  81  :  "(Judaei)  usque 
hodie  perseverant  in  blasphemiis  et  ter  per  singulos  dies  in  omni- 
bus synagogis  sub  nomine  Nazarenorum  anathematizant  vocabu- 
lum  Christianum."  Comp.  also  ad  Jesajam  49,  7  (ed.  Vallarsi  iv. 
565) :  "(Judaei  Christo)  ter  per  singulos  dies  sub  nomine  Nazarenor- 
um maledicunt  in  synagogis  suis."  And  Ad  Jesajam  52,  *  seq. 
(ed.  Vallarsi  iv,  604):  "(Judaei)  diebus  ac  noctibus  blasphemant  Sal- 
vatorem  et  sub  nomine,  ut  saepe  dixi,  Nazarenorum  ter  in  die  in 
Christianos  congerunt  maledicta. 

4.  Dialog,  cum.  Tryph.  c.  16:  Karapoy/nevoi  iv  ralg  oin>ayu)yair 
iifiav  robr  7rioTevovTag  km  rbv  Xpiarov. 

5.  Berachoth  fol.  29,  col.  1.  We  are  told  that  a  year  after  the 
composition  of  the    prayer    against  the  minim,  its   very    author 


WHAT  IT  IS.  j^g 

It  was  also  enacted  that  none  should  be 
received  as  disciples  or  allowed  to  attend 
the  public  schools  except  those  whose  inner 
convictions  were  found,  on  examination,  to 
harmonize  fully  with  the  outward  observ- 
ances which  they  sought  to  undertake.1 

4.  CUSTOMS  AND  USAGES.— The  influence 
of  Christianity  being  felt  more  and  more, 
the  Jews  changed  some  of  their  ancient  cus- 
toms. Thus  the  "  standing  men"  2  used  to 
fast  on  several  days  of  the  week,  but  not 
on  Sunday.  And  why  not  upon  a  Sunday  ? 
Rabbi  Samuel  bar  Nachmani  says  because  it 
is  the  third  day  from  the  formation  (of 
Adam).  3  Resh  Lakesh  says  because  of 
the  additional  soul  given  to  man  on  Friday 
(for  the  increase  of  his  appetite),  and  taken 
away  again  at  the  close  of  the  Sabbath, 
as  it  is  said  (Exodus  xxxi.  17) :    "  He  rested 


while  before  the  reading-desk,  could  no  more  remember  it  and 
from  three  to  four  hours  he  tried  to  recall  it  to  his  memory,  yet 
without  avail.  He  was,  however,  not  removed.  Had  the  author 
changed  his  mind  with  regard  to  those  for  whom  his  prayer  was 
intended  ?  or  did  he  himself  belong  to  the  church  ?  or  was  he  al- 
ready a  member  of  the  church  when  he  composed  this  prayer 
stante  pede,  and  composed  it  only  in  order  to  avert  the  suspi- 
cion of  being  a  win  himself  ? 

1.  Berachoth  fol.  28,  col.  1.  The  Jewish  writer,  M.  Friedlander 
(Patristische  and  Tahnudische  Studien,  p.  141)  is  inclined  to 
think  that  Gamaliel  introduced  this  measure  in  order  to  clear  him- 
self from  the  reproach  as  if  he  favored  the  new  sect.  This  would 
prove  that  he  was  suspected  of  being  in  secret  a  Christian,  as  is 
stated  Clementine  Recognitions  I.,  65-66.  The  Jewish  historian 
Gratz  (Geschichte  der  Juden  iv.  p.  427)  tells  us  that  in  a  church  at 
Pisa,  the  tomb  of  Gamaliel  was  shown  with  the  following  inscrip- 
tion : 

"  Hoc  in  Sarcophago  requiescunt  corpora  sacra 
Sanctorum  ....  Sanctus  Gamaliel. 
Gamaliel  divi  Pauli  didascalus  olim, 
Doctor  et  excellens  Israelita  fuit 
Concilii  magni  fideique  per  omnia  cultor." 

I  am  rather  inclined  to  think  that  this  enactment  was  made  by 
Gamaliel  II.,  at  Jabneh,  in  order  to  keep  away  the  many  Chris- 
tian believers. 

2.  "  Standing  men  "  has  reference  to  those  Israelites  who  were 
commissioned  to  act  as  delegates,  representing  the  nation  at  the 
Temple,  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  because  they  had  to  stand  near  the 
priest  during  the  offering  of  the   daily  sacrifice,   they   were  called 

1  the  standing  men." 

3.  Adam  was  created  on  Friday  ;  Sunday  was  therefore  the 
third  day  after  his  creation,  and  upon  the  third  dayman  is  sup- 
posed to  be  weak,  for  it  is  said  (Genesis,  xxxiv.,  25),  ''and  it  came 
lo  pass  on  the  third  day  when  they  were  sore." 


I40  THE   TALMUD; 

and  was  refreshed;"  i.e.,  having  rested, 
alas  !  the  additional  soul  is  lost.  "  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  reasons  proffered  by  the 
Talmud  are  not  cogent.  The  true  reason, 
however,  is  "  because  of  the  Christians  " 
(as  the  older  editions  of  the  Talmud  read), 
who,  says  Rashi,  make  their  festival  upon 
that  day.  The  idea  is,  that  those  who  fasted 
had  not  to  work,  and  a  cessation  from  work 
on  Sunday  might  have  the  appearance  of 
observing  the  Christian  Sunday  i.  e.,  when 
the  Temple  was  still  in  existence. 

We  are  also  told  that  it  was  proposed 
that  the  Ten  Commandments,  which  were 
recited  every  morning  in  the  Temple,  should 
be  adopted  in  the  synagogues  throughout 
the  land  ;  but  this  was  not  carried  into  ef- 
fect because  of  the  troubles  of  the  minim,  2 
because — as  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  ex- 
plains 3  — it  was  feared  that  the  Christians 
would  thus  be  induced  to  believe  that  they, 
the  Jews,  were  in  a  similar  plight  as  them- 
selves, and  only  pledged  to  the  observance 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  (i.e.,  the  moral 
law).  ^  Another  curious  example  of  the 
necessity  which  the  Jews  felt  of  protesting 
against  the  Christians  is  the  following  :  The 
inhabitants  of  Jericho  were  in  the  habit  of 
repeating,  each  to  himself,  in  a  low  voice, 
the  words  :  "  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
glory  of  His  Kingdom  forever  and  ever  " 
after  the  words  "  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord 
our  God  is  one  Lord  "  (Deut.  vi.  4),  had 
been  recited  aloud.  But,  says,  Rabbi  Ab- 
bahu,  it  was  enacted,  that  these  words  should 
be  repeated  in   a   loud  voice,   on   account    of 

1.  Taanith  fol.  27,  col.  2. 

2.  Berachoth  fol.  12,  col.  1  ;    Taamid  fol.  32,  col.  2. 

3.  Bercii  hdth  fol.   ;,  col.    ;. 

4.  But  this  was  probably  not  the  true  reason.  The  real  ground 
seems  to  have  been  to  avoid  conforming  a  part  ol  the  Jewish  sere- 
vice  to  the  Christian,  and  thus  making  the  joining  of  the  churches 
much  easier. 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


141 


the  troubles  occasioned  by  the  minim,1  but 
at  Nehardea,  where  there  are  no  minim,  they 
repeat  it  to  this  day  in  a  subdued  voice. 

Great  care  was  taken  that  the  prayers  con- 
tained not  the  least  sign  of  a  Christian  phrase- 
ology. Thus  we  read  :  A  person  who,  in 
his  prayer  says,  the  Good  bless  thee,  shows  a 
Christian  manner ;  but  if  one  says,  "  as  thy 
mercies  extend  even  to  birds'  nests,  have 
mercy  also  upon  us,"  he  shall  be  silenced.  2 
The  words :  The  good  bless  thee,  probably 
belonged  to  an  ancient  Christian  liturgy,  and 
the  words,  "  as  thy  mercies  extend  even  to 
birds'  nests,"  reminded  too  much  of  Matt. 
x.     29,     hence    that    person    was    silenced. 

Even  the  dress  of  the  person  who  acted  as 
reader  of  the  synagogue,  was  made  a  test. 
Thus  we  read  :  if  a  person  should  say,  I  will 
not  minister  at  the  reading  desk  in  colored 
clothes,  he  may  not  be  permitted  to  do  so  in 
white  ones  ;  if  he  refuses  to  minister  with 
sandals  to  his  feet,  he  may  not  be  permitted 
to  minister  barefooted.^  To  this  Mishnaic 
injunction  the  Gemara  remarks  :  The  reason 
for  this  is  because  such  a  one  might  belong 
to  the  Christians.  Rashi,  in  his  commentary 
on  that  paragraph,  remarks  that  the  Chris- 
tians used  to  have  regard  to  such  things. 

And  because  the  Christians  used  to  pray 
eastwards,  doubts  were  expressed  as  to  the 
feasibility  of  having  the  face  eastward  during 
prayer,  and  in  order  to  protest  most  em- 
phatically against  the  increasing  heresy  (z.  e. 
Christianity),  it  was  recommended  to  turn 
the  face  westward  during  prayer.4  From  all 
this  it   is    evident    that    the    growth    of   the 


1.  Pesachim  fol.  56,  col.  1.     Reference   is  here   no   dotibt   to   th* 
Trinity. 

2.  Megillah  fol.  25,  col.  1.  3.  Ibid,  fol,  24,  col.  2. 

4.  Baba  Bathra,  fol.  25,   col.    1,   Low,  Der  Synagogale   Ritus  (in 
Gratz's  Monatsschri/t,  1884),  p.  313. 


142  THE    TALMUD; 

Christian  Church  must  have  been  very  rapid, 
otherwise  the  synagogue  would  not  have 
required  such  measures  which  were  intended 
to  check  the  advancement  of  the  gospel. 

LITERATURE   OF  THE   TALMUD. 

I.  EDITIONS.  The  first  complete  edition 
of  the  Babylonian  Talmud  was  published  by 
Bomberg  (Venice,  i520-'23,  12  vols.,  fol). 
This  formed  the  basis  of  later  ones.  Since 
that  time  editions  have  been  published  at 
different  places,  which  are  enumerated  by  R. 
N.  Rabbinowicz  in  Kritischc  Ucbcrsicht  der 
Gesammt  tind  Einzclansgabe  des  Babylonischcn 
Talmnds  scit  1484  (Munich,  1877,  written  in 
Hebrew).  The  most  recent  edition  is  that 
published  at  Wilna,  1 880-1 886,  in  26  vols. 
All  these  editions  are  without  the  anti-Chris- 
tian passages,  which  are  still  found  in  the 
Amsterdam  edition  of  1644. 

II.  Translations.  The  following  parts 
have  been  translated  into  German : 

I.  BcracJiotJi  by  Pinner  (Berlin,  1842);  2. 
Aboda  Zara  by  Ewald  (Nuremberg,  1868); 
3.  Taanitli  by  Straschun  (Halle,  1883) ;  4. 
Megilla  by  Rawicz  (Frankfort,  1883);  5, 
Rosh-ha-Sha?iah  by  the  same  {Ibid.  1886). 
The  Haghadistic  parts  have  been  translated 
into  German  by  A.  Wiinsche  (Leipsic,  1886 
-1887,  2  vols.). 

III.  Textual  Criticism.  Rabbinowicz, 
Variae  Lectiones  in  MiscJinam  et  in  Talmud 
Babylonicurn  quitvi  ex  a/iis  Libris  Anti- 
quissimis  et  Script  is  et  Imprcssis  turn  e  Codicc 
Monaccnsi  Praestantissimo  collcctae,  Annota- 
tionibus  instructae,  Munich,  1868,  seq. 

IV.  Linguistic  Helps.  Buxtorf, Lexicon 
Chaldait inn,  Talmudicum  et  Rabbuncum 
(Basil.  1640,  fol.  ;  new  edition  by  B. 
Fischer,     Leipsic,     1869-75) ;     Levy     Neu- 


WHA  T  IT  IS. 


143 


hebraisches  und  Chaldaisches  Worterbuch, 
etc.  {Ibid.  1875-1887,  not  yet  completed); 
Arnch  by  Nathan  ben  Jechiel  :  (new  critical 
edition  by  A.  Kohut,  Plenum  Amch  Tar  gum 
Talmudico  Midrasch  Verb  ale  et  Re  ale  Lexicon 
(Vienna,  1878,^.).  Riilf,  Zur  Lautlehre  der 
aramaiscli-talmudiscJien  Dialect  e  (part  I., 
Die  Kekllaute,  Leipsic,  1879);  Berliner,  Bei- 
trdge  zur  Jiebrciischen  Grammatik  in  Talmud 
und  Midrasch  (Berlin,  1879). 

Since  the  Talmud  is  the  great  storehouse 
of  all  and  everything,  it  has  been  treated  in 
treatises,  the  number  of  which  is  legion  and 
to  enumerate  which  would  be  tedious.  Very 
instructive,  however,  is  Einleitung  in  den 
Talmud  (a  reprint  of  the  art.  Talmud  in  Her- 
zog  Real-Encycl.  2d  ed.)  by  H.  L.  Strack, 
Leipsic,  1887. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abina,  72. 
Abtalion,  17,  19. 
Alexander,  97. 
Amoraim,  68,  73. 
Amulet,  80. 

Antigonus  of  Socho,  15. 
Aqiba,  37  seq.  122. 
Aquinas,  31,  37. 
Ashe,  71. 
Astrology,  80. 
Atlantic  Monthly,  125. 

B. 

Babylonian  Talmud,  71  seq. 
Bacher,  130,  135. 
Balaam,  118. 
Bar  Cochba,  40. 
Bethera,  sons  of,  18. 
Bloch,  viii. 
Bonaventura,  31. 
Briggs  43. 
Buxtorf,  77. 


Carpzov,  135. 

Charms,  81. 

Christianity,  power  and  influence 
of,  136  seq. 

Christians  study  the  Scriptures, 
133  seq  :  customs  and  usages  of, 
139  ;  prayer  against,  137  seq. 

Clarke,  27. 

Confucius,  130. 

Conybeare  and  Hovvson,  137. 

Cornhill  Magazine,  27,  85. 

D. 

Da  Costa,  92. 

Delitzsch,  19,  74,  94,  128,  136. 

Demons,  81. 

Deutsch  27,  84,  94,  124,  128. 

Diogenes  Laertius,  130. 

Disraeli,  90. 

E. 

Edersheim,  95,  128. 

Edinburgh  Review,  it,  84,  85,  90, 

96. 
Eliezer  ben  Hyrcanus,  36,  38,  122. 
Epiphanius,  138. 
Etheridge,  32,  98. 
Ezra,  12. 


Farrar,  12,  13,   14,  40,  45,  84,  92, 

39,  98,  in,  113,  129,  136. 
Friedlander,  139. 


Gamaliel  I.,  Rabban,  vii.,  31,  121. 

II.,  36. 
Geiger,  19,  21. 
Geikie,  95,  124,  127. 
Gemara,  68,  69. 
Gemarici.  68. 
God,  as  presented  in  the  Talmud, 

79  seq. 
Gold  f  ah  n,  134. 
Gospels,  and  the  Talmud,  123  seq.: 

circulation  of,  134  seq. 
Graetz,  32,  122,  138,  139. 


H. 


Heine,  27. 

Herzfeld,  14. 

Hillel,  18  seq.;  no  reformer  21, 

130. 
Hurwitz,  82,  94. 


I. 

Imma  Salome,  121. 
Ismael,  41,  42. 
Isocrates,  130. 


James,  the  apostle,  vi. 

Jerome,  29,  138. 

Jerusalem  Talmud,  69  seq. 

Jesus,  the  Talmud  on,  113  seq.: 
disciples  of,  116;  birth,  poverty 
and  flight,  1 18-120;  sayings  of 
120  seq.:  healing  in  the  name 
of,  123. 

Jochanan  ben  Eliezer,  69. 

Joel,  135. 

Johanan  ben  Sakkai,    34  seq. 

Jose  ben  Joe'ser,  16. 
"      "    Jochanan,  16. 
"    the  Galilean,  43= 

Joseph  ben  Halafta,  44. 

Josephus,  33. 

Joshua  beii  Hananja,  37,  38. 
"  "     Perachia,  16,  113. 

Jost,  25,  118,  129. 


145 


146 


INDEX. 


Juda  ben  Ilai,  44. 

"       "    Tabbai,  17. 

"     the  Holy,  44  seq. 
Justin  Martyr,  138. 

L. 

Leslie,  88. 

Levin,  88. 

Levy,  14,  100,  11S. 

Lightfoot,  36,  75,  133,  135. 

Low,  141. 

Lowe,  136. 

M. 

Meir,  44. 

Meklenburg,  vi. 

Messiah,  Talmudic  notices  on, 
99  seq. 

Milman,  v.  11.  92. 

Mishna,  47  seq.;  contents  of,  48- 
64  ;  editions  of,  65  ;  transla- 
tions of,  65  ;    helps  to,  66  seq. 

Moore,  117, 125. 

N. 

Nahum  of  Gimso,  37,  38. 
Nathan,  44. 
Nazarene,  113. 
Nithai  of  Arbela,  66. 

P. 

Palestinian  Talmud,  69. 
Pandera,  117. 
Panthera,  117. 

Passages  quoted  or  referred  to  : 
Gen.    xv.  13,  p.  112. 
xlix.  10,  p.  no. 
Exod.  iv.  22,  p.  116. 
23.  P-    " 
xvi.  5,  p.  22. 
xxiii.  7,  p.  "6. 
Levit.  xiii.  13,  p.  102. 
xix.  36,  p.  127. 
Num.  v.  23,  p.  135- 
Deut.  vii.  25,  p.  104. 
viii.  3,  p.  112. 
xi.  21,  p.  136. 
xiii.  8,  p.  116. 
xxiii.  6,  p.  115. 
18,  p.  122. 
xxxii.  36,  p.  102. 
Ps.       x.  8,  p.  116. 
xli.  5,  P-    " 
xiii.  2,  p. 
Iv.  23,  p.  118. 
lxviii.  3.  p.  120. 
lxxii.  16,  p.  79. 

17,  p.  no. 
xxx.  6,  p.  104. 
xc.  4,  p.  103. 
15,  p.  112. 
xci.  7,  p.  109. 
10,  p.  117- 
xcii.  1,  p.  103. 
xcv.  10,  p.  III. 
civ.  26,  p.  14- 
Eccl.   i.  9,  P-  vii. 


Isa.  i.  26,  p.  107. 
ii.  11,  p.  103. 
v.  7,  p.  107. 
xiv.  19,  p.  no. 
xviii.  5,  p.  106. 
xxiii.  15,  p.  in. 
xxx.  18,  p.  105. 
15,  p.  106. 
xlviii.  11,  p.  108. 
xlix.  7,  p.  106. 
liii.  4,  p.  no. 
liv.  9,  p.  112. 
Iv.  3,  p.  106. 
lvii.  8,  p.  135. 
lix.  15,  p.  101. 

16,  p.  108. 

19,  20,  p.  107. 
lx.  2,  p.  in. 

21,  p.  107. 
lxii.  5,  p.  112. 
lxiii.  4,  p.  112. 
lxiv.  3,  p.  112. 

Jer.  iii.  14,  P-  i06- 

22,  p.  105. 
iv.  1,  p.  106. 
x.  2,  p.  80. 
xvi.  13,  p.  no. 
xxv.  30,  p.  79. 
xxx.  9,  p.  no. 

21,  p.  no. 
xxxi.  8,  p  vii. 
Lam.    i.  5,  p.  115. 
16,  p.  no. 
Ezek.  xvii,  23,  p.  vii. 
xxix.  21,  p.  107. 
xxxii,  14,  p.  106 
xxxvii.  25,  p.  no. 
Dan.    vii.  17,  P-  108. 

xii.  7,  p.  106. 
Hos.    vi.  2,  p.  103. 
Am.     iii.  2,  p.  133. 
iv.  7,  p.  100. 
v.  18,  p.  no. 
ix.  11,  p.  100. 
Mic.     i.  7,  p.  122. 
v.  3,  p.  109. 
Hab.    ii.  3,  P-  104, 103. 
Zeph.   ii.  11,  p.  129. 
iii.  n,  p.  107. 
v.  12,  p.  107. 
Hag.    ii.  5,  P-  io4- 
Zech.  ix.  9,  p.  108,  in. 
Mai.     iii.  7,  p.  106. 
Ecclus.  xxxi.  15,  p.  13". 
Tobit.  iv!  15,  p.  130. 
Matt.    v.    3,  p.  125. 
7,  p.  126. 
10,  p.  126. 
17,  p.  121. 
19,  p.  126. 
22.  p.  126. 
24,  p.  126. 
28,  p.  126. 
37,  p.  127. 
40,  p.  127. 
44,  P-  127. 
VI.    1,  p.  127. 
19-21,  p.   128. 
26,  p.  128. 
31-34,  p.  "«. 


INDEX. 


H7 


Passages  referred  to,  continued  ; 
Mat.vii.  2,  p.  128. 

4,  p.  129. 

5.  P-  129- 
12,  p.  129. 
24,  p.  131. 
29,  P.  14. 

ix.  37,  p.  132. 
x.  8,  p.  132. 
29,  p.  141. 
XX.  30,  31,  p.  IOO. 
xxii.  32,  p.  136. 
xxiii.  12,  p.  132. 
Mark  xv.  32,  p.  100. 
Luke  ii.  34,  p.  119. 
Acts  xv.  16,  p.  100. 
Paul  and  Gamaliel,   vii. 
Pinner,  43. 
Pressense,  16. 
Pusey,  115. 

R. 

Rabbi,  44  seq. 
Reichardt,  138. 
Renan,  v.  19,  p.  124. 
Reynolds,  36. 

S. 

Sabbath  made  for  man,  132. 
Schaff,  96. 
Schiirer,  135. 
Scribes,  12. 

Scriptures  studied  by  the  Chris- 
tians, 133. 
Shammai,  22,  28. 
Shemaiah,  17,  19. 
Simon  ben  Gamaliel.  33,  43. 
"         "    Jochai,  44. 


Simon  ben  Shetach,  17. 
"        the  Just,  12,  15. 
Soferim,  12. 
Stada,  117. 

Stanley,  14,  15,  29,  30. 
Stanton,  v. 
Sunday,  140. 


Talmud,  Jerusalem.  69. 

Talmud,  Babylonian,  71  seq.; 
name,  character,  language,  72 
seq.;  appendix  to,  y6seq.;  guide 
to  the  treatises  of  the,  78  ;  liter- 
ary and  moral  character  of, 
77-87  ;  accusations  against  the, 
88  ;  how  to  avoid  them,  88  seq,; 
different  opinions  on  the,  90-98  ; 
literary  use  of,  98  seq.;  notices 
concerning  the  Messiah  in  the, 
99-112  ;  names  of  Jesus  in  the, 
113  seq.;  the  gospels  and  the, 
123  seq.;  testimony  concerning 
the  Christians  and  Christianity, 
132  seq.;  literature  on,  142  seq. 

Tanaim,  15. 

Tarphon,  43,  134. 

Taylor,  130. 

V. 

Virgins,  parable  of  the  ten,   131. 
Vossius,  123. 

W. 

Wachner,  74. 
Wiinsche,  113,  115, 114. 


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